'It's just instinct:' Neighbor helps woman who fell down stairs while escaping Raleigh fire

CPR was administered to at least one person after a fire broke out around 6:45 a.m. on Brook Knoll Place, but no serious injuries were reported. The victim was transported to a local hospital for smoke inhalation.

William Strickland was the first resident in the cul-de-sac to open his door as the area echoed with screams Sunday morning.

"I immediately saw the fire. It was already so bad at that point and I could hear the lady really screaming and I could realize where it was coming from," he said.

Barefoot and wearing pajamas, Strickland took off for the townhome across the street. Inside, a woman said her mother was trapped and she needed help getting out.

"When she moved away, out of the doorway, is when I saw her mother laying on the floor at the bottom of the steps," Strickland said.

The woman told Strickland that her mother had fallen down the steps as she tried to escape. As Strickland tried to move her to safety, he knew he'd need help.

"So I just ran and started knocking on every door, ringing doorbells, trying to get someone to help me and the daughter was just screaming, 'I can't leave my mother,'" Strickland said.

Eventually, another neighbor answered the calls for help and helped Strickland move the woman's mother outside. Seconds later, first responders arrived and Strickland went home.

While he sustained cuts and scrapes in the incident, Strickland said he would do it again.

"I mean, I'd hope that somebody would do that for me. It's just instinct, I guess. When somebody needs help, they need help. It doesn't matter who they are, you just help," he said.

Three homes were affected in the fire, and six people were displaced, according to fire officials.

Authorities have not determined the official cause of the fire, but Strickland said that the woman told him the fire started on the second floor as the result of a lit cigarette.