VIDEO: Steven McBee has a message for the people, both firefighters and neighbors, who he said saved his life.
"I closed the door. I see the glow and everything else. I couldn't make it down the stairs because the flames are always blocking the stairway," said McBee.
McBee said he originally heard a noise outside his apartment but didn't think anything of it until the phone rang.
"It was my girlfriend calling me, telling me that the porch is on fire. I said. 'What do you mean?'" said McBee.
McBee said his quick-thinking neighbors are the reason crews responded to the 400 block of North Wyomissing Boulevard when they did.
"I'm the one who called 911 and seen the fire," said neighbor Monique, who lives next door. "What I felt more than what I seen was the heat from the fire and the thick smoke that came into my window."