FD: 13-year-old rescued from Mesa apartment fire; passerby jumped into action to help residents evacuate

MESA, Ariz. - Firefighters say a 13-year-old boy was not seriously injured after being rescued from an apartment fire in Mesa.

According to Mesa Fire and Medical, two Mesa Police officers saw smoke coming from the fire on May 20 near McKellips Road and Mesa Drive and quickly rescued the teenager.

Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after and searched for any additional victims before extinguishing the fire, which had spread into an attic and an apartment next door.

The teen was treated at the scene and released to his parents.

An 84-year-old woman was treated for smoke inhalation and transported to a hospital.

One of the officers suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

Ten people have been displaced as a result of the fire and are being assisted by the Red Cross.

Passerby jumped into action

In all, 10 people were affected by the fire, but they are safe and sound, thanks to some quick-thinking police officers, firefighters, and an everyday person who was in the right place, at the right time.

Michael Elliott was driving to work when he saw the flames and smoke coming from the apartment building.

"I dialed 911 and I'm kind of waiting, but I pull up and there's a woman outside. She was a little nervous and frantic about getting her dogs out," said Elliot.

Elliott says he helped get the dogs out, and started knocking on more doors.

"Banging on the doors, telling everyone 'hey there's a fire, you need to evacuate,'" said Elliot.

Later on, the Mesa Police officers arrived. They also started to knock on doors, and even kicked one door in.

"Once they kicked it in, we saw it looked obstructed a bit, and we saw a boy knocking on his glass. He was right there, front-facing, and the cop grabbed like a hydroflask or something and broke the window, got the boy out. His hands were bleeding, I don't think he had shoes on," said Elliott.

The teen was worried about his family and dog, and asking for his phone.

"I said 'hey, don't worry about your phone. The police and fire guys will take care of your stepdad and dog. You come with me,'" said Elliott. "I went to my car grabbed some towels. Hhis hands were bleeding, and I grabbed shoes from my truck. He was barefoot."

Elliott eventually resumed his trip to work. He arriving a few minutes late, but his boss was very understanding.

"He asked me if I ate my Wheaties that day. I think my wife has the impression I was dragging people out of burning buildings, and I never take for granted what firefighters, police officers, first responders do for us," said Elliott.

Teen rescued from apartment speaks out

The teen rescued has been identified as Blake Mankin. He was home alone playing video games when he heard the chaos outside.

"I saw the smoke, smelt it ,and I didn’t know where my dog was so I yelled his name, but he didn’t listen to me. Then, it just went to how I’m going to get out and I broke open the window," said Blake.

Officers helped Blake break the window. He, along with his dog, were later pulled to safety.

Blake's parents were on their way to get vaccinated when they got a phone call.

"We pulled up and saw one fire truck on the road spraying from over the wall, and we came in and they actually had the entire road blocked out," said Chris Carstensen. "Thankfully, we were able to get to him and talk to him right away."

Blake had to get a few stitches on his right hand, but Chris says he is just happy everyone made it out safe.

"Everything else is just material good. We can replace that. There is nothing we can do that can replace life," said Chris.

Arizona Headlines

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news:

Get breaking news alerts in the FREE FOX 10 News app. Download for Apple iOS or Android.