‘I grabbed him and pulled him out’: Orange County man springs into action to save stranger from burning condo building

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man sprang into action and saved a stranger from a burning condo building Wednesday morning.

Firefighters said the fire happened at the Colonial Landings apartments on North Econlockhatchee Trail near East Colonial Drive.

Oscar Gonzalo ran into the burning building and saved the man’s life.

READ: Dashcam footage released in officer-involved shooting that killed 2 teens in Brevard County

“I’m like wow. What am I doing?” Gonzalo said. “Then feeling the heat from the fire freaked me out.”

Gonzalo told Channel 9 he was on his way to pick up his daughter for school just before 8 a.m. when he noticed smoke in the air.

His curiosity made him pull into the Colonial Landings apartment complex.

“I ran over there and I saw the old man who fell off his wheelchair trying to get out and the unit was engulfed in flames,” Gonzalo said. “That’s when I grabbed him and pulled him out. Then the whole building went up (in flames), that’s when I started shooting video.”

Gonzalo’s cellphone video showed flames shooting up the building. The victim was lying on the grass until paramedics arrived.

READ: Carnival Cruise Line cancels all U.S. cruises through January 2021

“His arm was burned,” Gonzalo said. “He was burning up. He was literally burning up when I got to him.”

Orange County firefighters pulled out all the stops. They used a ladder truck to attack the blaze from high ground.

Firefighters on the ground made sure all the other residents made it out of their homes safely.

The man Gonzalo saved was the only person rushed to the hospital.

“The fire was right next to the AC units,” Gonzalo said. “And he had oxygen tanks inside the house and they were blowing up.”

READ: Sanford resident wakes up to find stranger performing lewd act in bedroom doorway, police say

Gozalo said he is still processing what happened. “You get into this mode,” he said. “Then, once it’s all over, you’re like ‘What did I just do?’” Now the adrenaline stopped, so I’m like, ‘What did I do?’ It’s good karma, I guess."

The good news is that the wheelchair bound victim will survive.

Orange County Fire Rescue said 16 units were displaced.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Video: 1 person injured in Orange County apartment complex fire One person was taken to a hospital after an apartment complex caught on fire, according to the Orange County Fire Rescue.

See a map of the scene below:

Cox Media Group