ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Pinellas County man is being called a hero and a lifesaver after he carried an 86-year-old woman and her dog out of their home during a fire.

Alex Delgado said it was just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday when he noticed smoke through the window of his office at Gulfcoast Eye Care.

What You Need To Know

  • A home on 10th Avenue North was heavily damaged by fire Tuesday morning 

  • A retired Marine saw smoke from his office next door and helped get an 86-year-old woman and her dog out of the home

  • The woman's son is calling good samaritan Alex Delgado "a lifesaver" for his efforts

  • Neighbors are now trying to raise money for the family of four, who expects to welcome a new baby in a matter of days

“I immediately just ran over,” said Delgado, who also called 911.

Delgado, chief operating officer at Gulfcoast, said he wasn’t even supposed to be at that office but had to make an unexpected trip. He told Spectrum News that when he saw smoke, his instincts kicked in.

“I’m a retired Marine, and so I think that’s just in our DNA to run to the fire — no pun intended,” he said.

When Delgado got to the home, he said flames were just starting to make their way from the side of the house, in what he described as a shed area, to the main part of the residence.

“Inside, it was pretty smoky, pretty hot,” said Delgado.

He said he let a man inside know the house was on fire. That man’s grandmother was also at home. Delgado said the woman only spoke Vietnamese. In addition to the language barrier, she’s also blind.

“When I saw there was a little bit of noncompliance and she was a little bit agitated, I just, unfortunately, had to pick her up and take her outside the home to safety,” said Delgado.

She wasn’t alone. Delgado said she was carrying the family dog at the time.

“He’s a lifesaver,” homeowner Khuong Nguyen said of Delgado. “I don’t know how much I appreciate what he did for my mom. Without my mom, I probably couldn’t survive.”

Nguyen said he was at work when his son called to tell him what was happening. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said it took more than 90 minutes to get the fire under control.

“These things happen,” said Nguyen. “My family’s safe. My dog is safe. You know, the house — I can rebuild.”

But there are challenges ahead, including that Nguyen’s daughter-in-law, who also lived in the home, is pregnant. 

“They have no insurance. The house is paid off — been there 27 years. They’re having a baby in eight days,” said neighbor Scott Bourne. “So, we’re trying to get everybody together from Euclid-St. Paul’s and the surrounding neighborhoods, give some money — anything. They’re going to need everything, basically. They have nothing.”

Bourne said a local store has offered to help with baby supplies, and a firefighter helped salvage items from inside.

“She pulled the pictures off the walls. They had a bunch of orchids. She pulled them out of the house and set them underneath their tree,” he said.

Neighbors have set up a GoFundMe for the family. The Red Cross is also helping. Delgado said he'd like to see the community rally around the Nguyens and that he's thankful he was able to help.

"I view it as divine intervention, being able to just be here at that moment," he said.

A spokesperson for SPFR said a cause of the fire has yet to be determined. 

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