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Neighbors pull man from Raleigh apartment fire

Martin Carter was trapped inside his Bashford Road apartment and made it out alive thanks to the heroic efforts of his neighbors and friends.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A man was hospitalized Tuesday night after a fire broke out at his Raleigh apartment.

Martin Carter was trapped inside his Bashford Road apartment and made it out alive thanks to the heroic efforts of his neighbors and friends.

Perstues Dunston said he noticed smoke coming from his neighbor’s apartment when he returned from the store Tuesday afternoon.

“The people who stay upstairs from the apartment that was smoking, they were coming down. I told them to call 911,” he said.

Dunston checked to see if anyone was inside the burning apartment. When he realized the person who lived there was trapped, he and two others immediately went to help. They found Carter with his back up against the kitchen sink amid thick smoke.

“They actually crawled in under the smoke and pulled the man out,” said Raleigh Fire Department Division Chief Allen Wilson.

Dunston said Carter had burns to his face and scratches to his body.

“It was real scary. I’m not going to front, it was very scary,” he said.

Wilson applauded the men for facing the frightening situation head on and called their actions heroic.

“These three gentlemen who went in to pull him out did that without the protective gear, without any type of protective equipment,” Wilson said. “They truly risked their lives to save this man.”

A fire report released Tuesday night said the fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.

One other family was displaced by the fire. They were being assisted by the Red Cross Tuesday night.

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