‘True hero’: Homeless man rescues children from apartment fire

A homeless man rescued a baby and a toddler from an east valley apartment kitchen fire that ravaged through the unit Friday morning, according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue officials.

The children were taken to University Medical Center with smoke inhalation and were expected to recover, officials said. “The man is a true hero,” fire officials wrote on Twitter.

The man, who officials identified as Anival Angulo, 36, was walking through the neighborhood when he saw smoke billowing from the front door of the unit and heard the children crying, officials said. He jumped over a locked gate and found a little girl standing near the entrance of the smoke-filled apartment.

When the girl was unable to open the steel door, Angulo pulled on it until the dead-bolt lock unlatched, officials said. “The little girl ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.”

Through the smoke, he saw the tiny leg of the other child, and he pulled the infant out, officials said.

Crews were dispatched about 11:30 a.m. to multiple 911 calls at a four-unit complex in the 2600 block of Mesquite Ave., near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road, officials said.

The fire, which started on a pan with cooking grease, destroyed the kitchen and living room and caused extensive smoke damage throughout the apartment, officials said. It was extinguished in less than 10 minutes, and nobody else was injured.

Investigators determined that the children were being watched by their grandfather, who was in a back room when it ignited. “One of the kids at the hospital told fire investigators the pan started on fire and got big really fast with lots of smoke and it made her scared,” officials wrote in a news release. “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.”

By Friday evening, the apartment, which sits on a corner of a poorly lit neighborhood, was boarded up. The smell of smoke still permeated through the chilled air.

Damage was estimated at $50,000 and the Southern Nevada chapter of the American Red Cross was assisting the family.