The neighbors reportedly sprang into action on June 3 after spotting the children banging on a window while trapped inside the home in Mount Vernon
Neighbors are being hailed as heroes after rescuing three children from a burning home in Washington last month,
The trio of children were inside their home at the Skagit Valley Mobile Manor in Mount Vernon when the blaze broke out on June 3, according to local CBS affiliate KIRO.
The children’s parents were at work when their house went up in flames, trapping the children, ages 5, 8 and 12, according to a GoFundMe campaign started by the kids’ aunt Marcelina Hilario.
Archibaldo, 8, recalled hearing “popping things outside” before spotting smoke entering the house, per KIRO. He said the fire began outside “right by the front door,” making it difficult to escape.
“I told my sister to get in the room so we can be safe to ask for some help,” he remembered.
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A short time later, neighbors saw the children banging on a front-facing window, according to KIRO.
Aurelio Ortiz, Archibaldo’s father, said the neighbors then “broke the window” and rescued the kids from the home.
It is unclear if the children sustained any injuries.
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The family lost everything in the fire, which “took 2 hours to completely extinguish,” according to Hilario.
“We feared that everything, including the children, had been consumed by the fire," Hilario wrote in the GoFundMe. She then thanked the neighbors for their “quick actions.”
“This harrowing experience has left our family devastated,” she continued. “We never imagined that we would face such a tragedy, and we are now grappling with the overwhelming task of helping our family rebuild their lives from scratch.”
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While it will take a year to rebuild the family home, Ortiz said he is just thankful that his children survived the ordeal, according to KIRO.
“Everything is material, everything we can fix it, we can restart, you know. But the important [thing is] my kids,” the father explained.
More than $2,400 has been raised through the family’s GoFundMe campaign to help their recovery efforts following the blaze.
“I have to start from zero,” Ortiz told KIRO.
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