Newark Mayor Cory Booker was treated and released from the hospital Thursday evening after helping to rescue his neighbors from their burning home.
According to The Associated Press, Booker had just returned from a TV interview when he learned that the house next door was on fire. The mayor immediately rushed over to help.
By the time Booker arrived, Det. Alex Rodriguez, a member of the mayor’s security team, had already rescued two women who lived on the first floor. Booker and another member of his security detail then entered the building and headed for the second floor to reach a third resident, The Star-Ledger reported.
“I suddenly had the realization that I can’t find this woman.” Booker said. “I look behind me and see the flames and I think “I’m not going to get out of here. Suddenly I was at peace with the fact that I was going to jump out the window.””I just grabbed her and whipped her out of the bed,” Booker said. The two made their way downstairs, where they both collapsed, Booker said.
After the fire department arrived, Booker and the woman he helped to save were taken to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Hospital for treatment, The New York Daily News reported. Although he suffered second-degree burns on his hand and smoke inhalation, Booker was released on Thursday night. Details about the woman’s injuries are not known at this time.
Thursday’s blaze was not Booker’s first experience with fire. Last month, a house he owned was damaged in a fire just hours after he delivered his sixth “State of the City” address. Booker purchased the three-story brick building in 2009 with plans to fix it up but when the renovations became too costly, he put the home on the market. Law enforcement officials said the fire appeared to have been started by squatters.
Although he plans to give a press conference on Friday morning, Booker took to Twitter overnight to discuss his experience.
@CoryBooker Cory Booker
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