Frank Moore, 65, was asleep when the blaze started. When he awoke and ran to the door, he was trapped because the home was equipped with deadbolts that could only be opened with a key from the inside. Plus, there were bars on the windows.
Lucky for Moore, three Fayetteville police officers leapt into action.
"One of the bystanders had a little short pry tool that he was using. So I took that from him and had him move back out of the way of the fire. Then, another officer arrived on the scene - Officer Harvey. Him and I were prying at the door trying to get it open," recalled Officer William Merriman.
"Smoke was very heavy coming out the door. He was standing up and we were telling him to, we were informing him to get down on his knees because it was getting hot. And we was doing everything we could," said Officer Reginald Harvey.
"I know the main goal we all had is: he's got to come out of that house. There's not a choice. And, just kind of swallow down the fear a little bit and do what we had to do," said Officer Louis Bloomer.
The three officers managed to get Moore out of his home. He suffered some smoke inhalation and was released from the hospital Friday morning.
Several homes along Langdon Street have the same type security gates and bars. The fire has some residents concerned about using them.
"It's good to keep the burglars out, but if you don't have a way to get out and you get trapped in an incident that happened yesterday, then by the grace of God they was able to get that door open for him to get out of there," said Willy Guyton.
