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Grace Williams, who lives in unit 411, said she watched in horror as a person clung to the railing of the fourth floor balcony screaming for help, white hair already on fire.

“I could see him, and his face, with flames coming off his head. He was screaming for help. I couldn’t do anything,” said Williams, sobbing and shaking. “I felt powerless.”

Fire services has not confirmed the victim’s gender.

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While she and other residents were filing down the fire escapes, she saw Riza Kasikcioglu, owner of Maximo’s Pizza and Donair at 11729 Jasper Avenue, running back up.

“He was going up there and just trying to help everybody as best as he can while other people are going down and not doing a thing,” said Williams, calling Kasikcioglu a hero.

Brad Wilkinson said he passed an open door on the seventh floor and saw Kasikcioglu carrying a woman in a wheelchair on his back.

“There was the guy from Maximo’s, wearing the uniform, running down the hall and there was smoke behind him. He was pushing a lady in a wheelchair, he goes to the stairwell, and he immediately turns around on the stairwell and puts the wheelchair on his back. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Wilkinson said.

“I think he was just trying to help as many people as he could, because right when we got to the bottom, he turned around and sprinted right back inside.”

Kasikcioglu said his wife first saw the fire from across the street, and without hesitation he ran over to the building shouting “fire!” until his throat was hoarse, warning people watching from their balconies to get out of the building.