Construction workers saved a man from his burning home in Lake Barrington earlier this week.
“With a pillow over my face I tried to get out--couldn’t get out so, I had to come out the window and started screaming for help and luckily those three guys were there for me,” Mike Walsh remembered.
Those three guys were window installers working for Renewal by Andersen on a nearby home.
“One of my guys called me and he’s like you know what it smells like fire," installer Leonardo Zavalza said.
The three men immediately began banging on windows to see if anyone was inside. That’s when they saw Mike Walsh peaking out of the second-floor window screaming for help.
They grabbed their ladder and climbed up to get him.
"If he waits any longer there might be flames coming out of the window," Zavalza said. "And maybe 45 seconds later that’s exactly what happened.”
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Walsh suffered from smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital.
“It was a case of being in the right place at the right time," Zavalza said. "I don’t know about a hero but anyone in their right mind would have done the same thing."
Walsh met for the first time since the fire with the three heroes on Friday.
He was grateful to be alive and thankful to the men who saved his life.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said. "Without them I wouldn’t be here."
Nearly everything the Walsh owned was destroyed in the fire.
His daughter has set up a website to help them start over.
