CHARLOTTE, NC (CNN) — A North Carolina woman is recovering from burns after her home caught fire Thursday.
Neighbors helped the 97-year-old to safety.
The heroic act was caught on camera.
“The whole place was pretty much done,” said neighbor Robert Chavis.
An act of neighbors helping neighbors — all caught on camera — after a north Charlotte home went up in flames Thursday night.
Several people rushed toward 97-year-old Carmen Torres to get her away from the burning home.
Video shows as they pick her up and physically move her away from danger, all while flames and smoke shoot out in the distance.
“I think she just didn’t know what was going on. I think she was in shock,” Chavis said.
Chavis immediately noticed smoke billowing out from the garage.
When he checked it out, he says his instincts set in.
“Four or five of us probably just grabbed her and pulled her over here to the hill, to safety,” Chavis said.
He says within minutes, fire consumed the home and damaged the surrounding houses and even a vehicle out front.
Crews rushed Torres to the hospital with critical injuries, saying later she fortunately improved.
The two-story home is now just a smoldering frame leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
“You always say what you would do, or could do but you never know what you can do until you’re put in that situation,” Chavis said.
Investigators say the fire was accidentally caused by an electrical malfunction.
