'Heroes' Recount Saving Lives In Baltimore Fire
BALTIMORE, Md. (WJZ)—A fire consumes a west Baltimore home killing a toddler. Good samaritans saw the blaze and ran to assist.
Tracey Leong spoke to those brave men who say they didn't need to think twice once they saw danger.
Flames devouring a row home on Whitelock Street.
"Didn't really have time to talk about it, just went inside," said Keith Wilt, a BGE contractor.
Terrified neighbors panicking as the home crumbles in the blaze.
BGE contractors Keith Wilt and Matthew Geppi said they couldn't just stand by and watch.
"Seeing how much fire was up there I wasn't sure if anybody was up there," said Wilt.
When they heard there were children behind the flames they didn't hesitate to rush in.
The crew has been working on this street for the past year , getting to know most of the families who live here--so when they saw the chaos, they came running.
"The fire was on the left side of the front of the house and I was spraying that to keep the fire from blocking the doorway while he looked for the kids," said Matthew Geppi.
Wilt found the little boys wrapped in a curtain on the second floor, immediately sweeping them into his arms.
"See, so I just kept yelling for Geppi and going back towards his voice and when I rounded the corner I handed him one child and took the other and we exited the building," Wilt said.
Each of the men have four of their own children so their act of bravery to rescue the kids trapped inside was instinctive.
"It could happen to anybody at anytime, and you hope someone would of done the same for your children," said Geppi.
And for the young toddler who they weren't able to reach in time--it weighs heavily on their hearts.
"Devastating, wishing you could have done more, or gone down there sooner. Wonder where I failed, or could I have done something different," said both men.
Heroic actions, these men say they would do again in a heartbeat. Now the father and children who were in the blaze are at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The father is in critical condition, and the two little boys are improving with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire.
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