NEED TO KNOW

  • Neighbors in a Maryland suburb banded together to rescue a mother and her two children from a house fire

  • The incident occurred on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 6

  • The harrowing moments were caught on video via a neighbor’s Ring camera

A group of neighbors in Maryland banded together to save a mother and two children from a house fire in their neighborhood — and a doorbell camera caught the harrowing incident on video.

Fire crews arrived at the scene of a house fire in Middle River on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 7:12 a.m. local time, per a press release from Baltimore County shared on Jan. 6.

Upon arriving, the crews found a mother and two children safely outside the home. The three had minor injuries and were “transported to a local hospital for care.” The fire crews additionally found a dog in the residence that did not survive, per the release.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

The Baltimore County Fire Department (BCFD) shared Ring camera footage of the incident, taken from a home across the street. The footage shows neighbors rushing from their homes and gathering outside a house with orange flames emanating from a large bay window.

The neighbors can be heard yelling for a ladder as dark gray smoke billowed from an upstairs window.

One of the neighbors caught two children as they were dropped from a second-story window. Another neighbor eventually used a ladder to help bring the woman to safety.

“This incident is a powerful reminder of the strength of our communities,” Baltimore County Fire Chief Joseph Dixon said in a statement, per the release.

“Before our fire and EMS crews arrived, neighbors acted without hesitation to help a mother and her children escape a dangerous situation. I want to thank these residents for their courage and selflessness and commend our crews for their swift response in extinguishing the fire and providing medical support,” Dixon added.

The BCPD used the incident to urge residents to ensure they have working smoke alarms throughout their home, per the release.

The BCPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

While speaking to local news outlet WMAR 2, Steven Angelini, the owner of the Ring camera and the neighbor who caught the two children as they were dropped to safety, said he acted on instinct when he realized people were in trouble.

“My immediate reaction was I want to make sure that everyone’s out of the house,” he told the outlet.

“By the time I got to the middle of the street, I heard horror screams. It was haunting, it was scary, and I knew it wasn’t good,” he added.

He said that he tried to get a ladder to help save the family, but he was unable to do so due to a recent arm injury.

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“My next option was, you know … they probably have, maybe a minute, seconds left to live, so I told the mother to drop the kids to me,” he recalled.

However, Angelini insisted that he is not a hero.

“I think God puts me in situations to help other people,” he said. “I did what I would want anyone else to do for my family.”

Read the original article on People