"My instinct just took over" - Warrington man called hero for rescuing mum and son from fire
Stallone Paradi jumped into action to help
A Warrington man says 'instinct just took over' when he leapt into action to save a mum and son from a fire that broke out in a block of flats.
Stallone Paradi saw smoke starting to billow into the sky on Monday afternoon and ran over to Marsh House Lane to find the flats ablaze.
He then leapt into action to help a mum and son down from a second floor flat to safety as the emergency services arrived.
Mr Paradi said:
"There were women, men, children screaming, there were people in the flats... as you could see the top of the windows, there were people saying they were trapped and couldn't get out.
"I ran through to the apartments and the stairwell was ablaze, there was no way you (would have been) able to get up there, only the firefighters.
"The boy was screaming that he didn't want to die"
"I've then gone onto the main road and there was a young girl and her son on the second floor screaming that the flames were outside their door and they couldn't get out.
"The boy was screaming that he didn't want to die, so my instinct was to climb up. I climbed up on some wood around the steps, a lad put me on his shoulders and as he jumped, I grabbed the railings onto the patio door, pulled myself up, lowered the little lad down into a couple of men's arms, and then guided the female and lowered her down.
"The next minute, the flames were everywhere - it was bad. It was something out of a film, you don't expect to see that in real life, but my adrenaline just kicked in and I did what I thought was best to help and then the fire brigade came.
"I watched a girl lowering a baby out of the third floor flat"
"It was pandemonium. Half of it was shock and half of it was people running on their adrenaline. I watched a girl lowering a baby out of the third floor flat as well, but they were covered because they had people on the ground, there was a mattress on the floor, someone said to me 'there's kids inside' so that was it, I just ran through into the building.
"I couldn't see anyone, there was no way you were going up the stairs because of the flames, it wasn't that as well it was the noise when you were inside with the roaring of the flames. Because I've never witnessed anything like that it was just, what do I do here now?
"I've gone out onto the front and that's where I've seen the girl and the little boy in the window, they couldn't get down, they were trapped, so my instinct just took over."
Cheshire Fire & Rescue had 12 fire engines, two aerial ladder platforms and a high-volume pump at the incident to extinguish the fire and safely evacuate everyone from the building.
50 people were rescued from the building and they all escaped without serious injury.
Mr Paradi added:
"The adrenaline just took over (afterwards). When you sit back and realise, I actually did that (rescued the mum and son), I actually went in there.
"I had my son phoning me, telling me he was proud of me and I was a hero - that, for me, does it.
"The kid is upstairs as well telling me I'm a hero, that's all he keeps saying, you're a superhero aren't you!"
An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire, with those affected either living with friends or family or placed into local hotels.
A ten-year-old child was arrested by Cheshire Police and bailed, pending further enquiries.