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Father-daughter duo credited with saving residents from devastating house fire
A dozen people were displaced after a fire tore through a home in Sicklerville and damaged nearby properties. Authorities say a 70-year-old women jumped from a second-floor window was left with severe burns.
SICKLERVILLE, N.J. - A father-daughter duo is being credited with saving residents of a Camden County neighborhood from a devastating house fire that displaced a dozen people and sent three to the hospital.
Firefighters on Monday were called to Villanova Court around 1:30 a.m. for a two-alarm fire that engulfed a home. Three people were able to escape the blaze through a second-floor window.
Over a dozen people were displaced by the fire and a 70-year-old woman who jumped from a second-floor window was taken to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia with severe burns.
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During the fire, Vernon Hayes and his 14-year-old daughter Kian helped ensure some of their neighbors safely escaped the flames, including an 85-year-old woman who was home alone.
"I care about the people and the neighborhood, and I look out for them and they look out for me," Vernon said.
He credits his daughter for yelling for help the moment she saw the flames that would eventually ravage the house and damage neighboring properties.
"If it wasn't for my daughter, who knows what would have happened, I'm not the hero, she's really the hero," Vernon said.
Fire investigators are unsure what sparked the blaze that took dozens of firefighters to extinguish.
"Everyone worked together and cared about each other, and that's what we need more of," Vernon said.