An actor who has starred in "Anchorman" and TV shows including "Chicago Fire" and "The Good Wife" escaped a high-rise fire in Manhattan after he tried to get his elderly neighbor out of the burning home Tuesday afternoon.
Dylan Baker had just returned with his family to their home on the 33rd floor of a 46-floor building in Hell's Kitchen when flames burst out of his next-door neighbor's apartment.
"When I opened the door, it was a full-fledged fire," he said. "It was terrifying."
Baker said he tried to look for his elderly neighbor, a woman he calls Vivian.
"I banged on the door and shouted her name. I opened her door -- I was surprised to find it open -- and there were flames everywhere, and smoke was coming out at me so I had to slam the door," he said.
"I yelled again, I didn't hear anything. So we got the heck out," he said.
Baker called 911 and hurried his family out of the building.
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Another elderly resident named Joanne said alarms blared as smoke filled the hallways on her 25th floor. She walked down 25 flights of stairs along with her neighbors. She said most people were calm and orderly as they filed out of the building.
The fire department arrived minutes later and got the fire under control.
FDNY Chief Michael McLaughlin said the fire was in the main living area of the studio apartment, and there was heavy smoke on the floor.
The fire never spread to any other apartments in the building on 43rd Street near 10th Avenue, but the woman who lives there was found unconscious on the floor. Firefighters rushed her downstairs to an ambulance.
The woman remains in the hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.
When she was brought down, "she looked to be in pretty bad shape," according to Baker. "My daughter won't get that image out of her head."
"Vivian's a lovely person, she's a friend of ours," said Baker.
Officials are looking into a cause of the fire.
