When fire broke out at the popular Royal Mountain Inn early Sunday morning, one of the owners, who lived upstairs, was trapped by the thick smoke. He smashed an upstairs window to get out.
Authorities say he was reluctant to jump because of recent surgery.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Hoagboon helped get him down, as St. Johnsville Ambulance arrived.
“He was just getting off the roof, so I went over and I ran to him. He was kind of running towards us and I hurried up and took him down a little ways to the ambulance to get him away from all the smoke,” said EMT Aimeelynn Ahumada.
“He had recently had cataract surgery, so he had a bandage on his eye also,” said paramedic Joseph Hanifin. “We checked him out really well. Kept him in the rig to cool off. It was a warm night.”
They also helped to save the owner’s car.