A neighbour helped rescue two students from the second floor of a duplex in Charlottetown after it caught fire early Sunday morning.



Charlottetown fire inspector Winston Bryan said the neighbour had put his ladder up to the second-floor window and was helping the second occupant down when firefighters arrived at about 7:30 a.m.

That neighbour, Chris Richard, owns a local roofing company and keeps a ladder on his truck. His wife heard the cries for help coming from the duplex and the two went over to see what was going on.

"I opened up the front door and there was too much smoke," he said. "I couldn't even see in front my face.

"So I just came over, grabbed the ladder off the truck and put it up to the window and they climbed down, bare feet and everything."

Chris Richard says when he realized the two students were trapped upstairs, all he could think about was how to get them out safely. (Travis Kingdon/CBC)

He said he also brought over some blankets and a sweater so the people rescued wouldn't have to stand barefoot in the snow.

"We did the best we could," said Richard. "They got out safe. That's the main thing."

Bryan said it was lucky the neighbours noticed the students when they did.

Two other occupants were able to escape on their own. All four residents are university or college students who were renting half of the duplex on Dawson Court.

Canadian Red Cross volunteers are assisting all four with emergency needs.

Bryan said heavy smoke was coming out of the building when firefighters arrived. He said the investigation into the cause of the fire continues, but the focus is on the living room on the lower level.

He said the residents were checked by EMS and all were OK.

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