VIDEO: As others were desperately trying to get to safety, a local man is being honored for taking action to make sure they could on Friday. And his actions may be why a bad situation didn't become much worse.
Officials said William Cox was among the first on the scene when a fire broke out at Fairington Village Apartments in Stonecrest on Friday afternoon. He arrived and said he was immediately concerned when he didn't see people evacuating. "I walked down and I don't see anyone running out of the building," he said. "So, I'm screaming, 'Please, the building is on fire. If you're in there, get out'."
Suddenly, the very people that were heeding his call were presented with a serious problem - flames had already overtaken the breezeways meaning their main exits were blocked.
"And they just started throwing me their children," he said.