A Fire, a Deadbolted Door, and an Incredible Rescue

Las Vegas claims one of the nation's highest rates of homelessness—and one of the city's homeless residents is now being called a hero. KSNV and the Washington Post report that Anival Angulo was walking along a quiet Las Vegas street late Friday morning when he saw smoke coming out of a nearby apartment building. As he closed in on the building, he heard children screaming and rushed toward the scene. After leaping over a gate, the 36-year-old was stopped from entering the building by a deadbolted steel security door, which had a 3-year-old girl trapped on the other side. "Angulo starting pulling" on the door and "was able to bend it upward," per a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Facebook post. The deadbolt lock finally released, the door flew open, and the child on the other side "ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist."

That's when Angulo saw, through the smoke billowing through the apartment, the leg of a 10-month-old baby on the floor. He was able to get the little boy as well and shepherd both kids to safety. "I knew I had to get them out," he says, per KSNV. The children had been attended to by their grandfather, who was in a back bedroom and couldn't get to them in the living room once the fire started. "[Angulo's] action certainly saved the children's life," the Facebook post notes. The fire was ruled an accident—officials say it started in a stovetop pan full of cooking grease—and they add that both kids are expected to be fine after being treated for minor smoke inhalation. It appears the grandfather also survived. "The man is a TRUE HERO," the fire department tweeted about Angulo. (More hero stories.)