"She was screaming and hollering, beating on the door saying she needed help," Montgomery resident Andril Cottrell said.
Cottrell says she watched Saturday as her neighbor Gladys Rush's house went up in flames on East Park Avenue. It's still standing, but you can see the damage inside and outside.
"We were all in the house sleep and her daughter came to the door, knocking on the door and was talking about the house was on fire," Cottrell said.
Cottrell says the neighbor's teen daughter and 5-year-old grandson made it out safe, but Rush was trapped inside in her bedroom which was next to the kitchen where the fire started.
"They came out with her hands and legs bringing her out," Cottrell said.
She was alive, but police say she suffered 2nd degree burns over 35 percent of her body.
A fire also started in 74-year-old Mary Elizabeth Todd's kitchen Monday morning.
"All the flame, everything was back there," Todd said.
She lives two streets over from the house that caught fire Saturday.
Todd says she was boiling water and talking on the phone with her daughter and the next thing she knew the stove caught fire. She and her dog escaped through the back door.
"I walk with a stick. I left that stick. Ain't God good. The Lord opened the door and saved me this morning," Todd said.
We're told Mrs. Rush is recovering at UAB hospital. The neighbor says she spoke with her husband who says she is ok. Mrs. Todd will be living with her daughter until she can find another residence.
Neighbors say they are checking smoke detectors to make sure their own homes are protected and they're making sure they have a fire safety plan.
Fire officials are continuing to investigate the causes of these recent fires. We're told it took 16 minutes for firefighters to put out the fire on East Park Avenue.
Copyright 2012 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WSFA, a Raycom Media Station.
