A homeless man has been hailed a hero after saving two children from a burning apartment in Las Vegas.

Anival Angulo, 36, heard screams and saw smoke coming from the property on Mesquite Avenue on Friday.

Mr Angulo, who is currently homeless, jumped over a locked gate and broke down a security door to access the apartment and rescued a three-year-old girl and a baby boy aged 10 months.

He pulled on the steel bars of a door to cause its dead-bolt lock to unlatch.

The three-year-old girl ran through the smoke to him, but he saw the baby on the floor and pulled him out too.

‘Went to the door and saw the babies so I jumped the fence and I pulled on the screen door and I wrapped up the babies and pulled them out,’ Mr Angulo told 3LV News.

Two small children, 10 mons & 3 yrs were rescued from a burning apt by a homeless man who jumped a locked gate, then pulled a dead-bolt locked security door open to safety. Both kids will be okay. The man is a TRUE HERO. pic.twitter.com/jImwAklmcB — Las Vegas FireRescue (@LasVegasFD) December 1, 2017





‘I knew I had to get them out.’

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue staff arrived on the scene and put out the blaze.

View photos Anival Angulo broke down a door to rescue two children (Picture: Las Vegas Fire and Rescue) More

The fire started at about 11.30am in the kitchen when the children’s grandfather left food on the stove, it was reported. Firefighters put out the fire at 11.48am.

Most popular on Yahoo News UK

The five signs which let you spot a liar

Chip shop owner creates giant foot-long ‘pig in a blanket’ for Christmas

Boy, nine, writes to Father Christmas asking for a ‘forever home’ for his homeless family

Police force slammed after it warns bumping into someone under the mistletoe could be rape

Donald Trump’s favourite McDonald’s meal has been revealed

Tim Szymanski, from Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, said: ‘The children were in the living room. Food was cooking on the stove.

‘The grandfather was watching the children. He was in a back bedroom. The kids say the stove caught on fire, it got bigger and they started yelling. The granddad couldn’t get to them because of the fire.’

View photos Firefighters said Mr Angulo saved the children’s lives (Picture: Las Vegas Fire and Rescue) More

The children were taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

‘Without the quick action of Angulo, the children would have probably suffered severe smoke inhalation with burns. His action certainly saved the children’s life,’ said Las Vegas Fire and Rescue in a statement.