In Glendale, Armenian brothers entered a burning nursing home building and saved six elderly people
Armenian-American brothers saved six elderly people from a burning nursing home in Glendale by entering the building before the firemen arrived, the New York Post wrote.
20-year-old Alex Bazinyan and his 15-year-old brother Narek live near the elderly facility on Mountain Street. The fire started on Friday at around 16:45 local time. When Alex saw the nurse running out and calling for help, he realized that there were people inside.
At first, Narek tried to put out the fire with a hose, but the flames quickly grew stronger and the calls for help got louder. At that time, the brothers decided to enter the burning building.
Alex noted that there were eight people inside, including two nurses. They tried to evacuate the elderly residents, but they could not cope with the evacuation on their own.
“I go into the big room and see all these old people on the floor, some of them with catheters. Some were wounded, there was blood on their legs. We just took everyone out one by one,” Alex told the KTLA TV channel.
Two more neighbors helped the brothers. As a result, all six elderly people managed to get out to the street before the firemen arrived. Alex said that immediately after the last man was taken out, he heard an explosion.
“I looked around and saw how the flame was rising and moving towards me. I was trying to get everyone out as quickly as possible. There was smoke everywhere, because of which I could hardly see anything,” said Narek.
The chief of the Glendale Fire Service reported that the cause of the explosion was probably an oxygen cylinder, after which a part of the building collapsed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire before it reached the neighboring houses. Seven people received minor injuries.
The brothers explained their action as a natural response to what was happening.
“When you see that people need help, you just want to help them. We didn’t even think about who they were. We have a very united community here,” said Alex.
