Five people, including a 3-year-old child, were rescued from a burning house in Westchester County by a group of police officers early Sunday morning.
The fire broke out just after 2 a.m. on North Macquesten Parkway. Roughly a dozen of Mount Vernon’s finest jumped into action to save the tenants inside the three-story home.
Officers arrived and saw a woman and child trapped on the second floor and screaming for help. Natalie Jimenez put her full faith into the officers who pleaded with her to drop her 3-year-old daughter into their arms.
“It took all of me to be able to trust this person with my daughter and her being so small and we are up so high, that all I could think about is if this goes wrong, that is it,” Jimenez said.
First responders rescued Jimenez and at least three other people who were trapped inside the home. A shirtless tenant captured on video has been identified as Jimenez’s cousin, Anthony Oquendo. The 35-year-old lives on the second floor and on Monday family members called him a hero.
