A woman is in critical condition after a house fire in Pawtucket forced children to make a dramatic escape from the burning home.
Heavy smoke and flames were visible as the Pawtucket Fire Department responded to the home on Ballston Avenue just after 9:00 a.m.
Harrowing video captures first responders and firefighters pulling people from a burning building in Pawtucket.
The two boys went out the third-floor window where the fire did not reach and firefighters helped them get off the roof of the porch.
When both were safe, the first firefighter pulled out the air conditioner, but a 71-year-old grandmother was still inside, never having made it to the window.
Another team went in to get her as fire moved from one side of the house to the other.
“There was a lot of heavy, heavy fire on the side four corner of the second floor," said Pawtucket Battalion Chief John Trenteseaux.
Trenteseaux told NBC 10 the woman and a 12-year-old boy were transported to hospital care.
Police said the woman is in critical condition and the boy suffered minor injuries, but is expected to be ok.
"It was engulfed in flames, flames were shooting out of the second-floor and third-floor windows," said Noelle Sirvao, a neighbor.
The initial attack on the fire didn’t go as planned, after an electric cable fell on a fire truck.
“The power line going to the house got burned away—energized the property and truck— so we couldn’t use that truck so we went to an engine another water supply," said Trenteseaux.
Officials said some of the first firefighters on the scene didn't even put on their protective gear before jumping in to help.
Pawtucket crews received mutual aid from several surrounding communities.
The brave actions from first responders, all tie back to training and being ready, said Chief Tina Goncalves, Pawtucket's acting public safety director.
"You revert in a high-stress situation, back to your training and what you've done in the past," Goncalves said. So, as long as you train and we continue to train and we train well, those instincts will kick in when you're faced with a situation like that."
Neighbors and bystanders stepped in to do as much as they could before firefighters got there.
Gwendolen McGlinchey witnessed the dramatic rescue and spoke to one of the boys.
“There was like an 11-12-year-old boy that came out. He got rushed to the hospital. I want to say the other one was about 16ish--he’s okay. He was the only one that I was able to speak to about what was happening. From what he told me nobody was on the first or second floor. They were on the third floor, they were all sleeping and grandma pushed them, was pushing them out of the window and she got stuck up in the house for at least about 40 minutes," McGlinchey told NBC 10.
Neighbor Deirdre Caulfield was dropping her kids off at camp when she noticed the smoke.
“I haven't lived in Pawtucket very long. We only just moved here like a year or two ago and where I'm from, you just see somebody in need and you help them that’s it," said Caulfield. "I just did what I could do at that time. It was how I could help."
A restoration crew was on scene Wednesday evening, boarding windows and taking note of the damage left behind.
A building inspector will determine whether the house can be lived in, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal.
Caulfield set up a GoFundMe page to assist the family during the difficult time.
"It all falls under, 'if you put good out there, you're going to get good back,'" Caulfield told NBC 10. "I don't think my GoFundMe is different than any other, I just think we as people should give what we can, when we can."
For those looking to help, Caulfield told NBC 10 she and neighbors are trying to organize "donation stations," for people to donate clothes, furniture, and more to the impacted families.
NBC 10's Cal Dymowski and Temi-Tope Adeleye contributed to this report.