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Two Wake men save neighbor trapped in fire

Two men lugged an unconscious man and his recliner to safety after fire broke out in an upstairs unit of a Garner Road apartment building in Wake County.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Two men lugged an unconscious man and his recliner to safety Monday after fire broke out in an upstairs unit of a Garner Road apartment building in Wake County.

When cousins James Cathey and Reginald Dudley heard the smoke alarm sound in the apartment above them, they followed the smoke upstairs to check on their neighbor.

When they got no answer at the door, the pair went inside.

"When we walked in, we couldn't see nothing but clouds," Dudley said.

They opened a window to clear some of the smoke and saw their neighbor unconscious in his chair.

"I shook him, and he wouldn't move," Cathey said. "He wasn't breathing or anything."

Without hesitation, each grabbed one side of the recliner and moved the man to safety.

"We went out the back door," Cathey said. "We pulled him out in the chair. We pulled him and the chair out."

Once they got outside, the men started CPR until paramedics arrived. The victim regained consciousness and was taken to WakeMed. Neighbors said he was later transferred to UNC Hospital.

Authorities did not release the man’s name or condition.

 

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