Mississippi Neighbor Uses Bare Hands to Save Boy, 4, From Fire

A Mississippi neighbor used his bare hands to search through smoldering wreckage and rescue a 4-year-old boy trapped inside a burning home, newly released police body-camera footage shows.

Kennard Hodge painstakingly dug through the debris to reach the child, who was the only one of six minors still inside the house, WAPT reported.

The boy was found trapped in a bedroom and covered in burns after the fire tore through the property in Edwards, a small town in Hinds County, on Oct. 7.

As firefighters worked to bring the raging blaze under control, Hodge joined other neighbors searching the remains of the home.

Wearing a yellow shirt, Hodge sifted through the rubble until he located the boy, grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety.

“You got him?” a first responder asked Hodge.

“Yeah, I got him, got him, got him!” Hodge replied.

Hodge later said he stepped in because he wanted to give the child a “chance” to survive, describing the quick decision that led him into the burning wreckage.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 88-Year-Old Man Overrode Pickup’s Automatic Brakes, Accelerated Into Ice Cream-Eating Group, Killing 1: Police

The boy was not breathing when he was pulled from the home. Emergency responders performed CPR at the scene before rushing him to a hospital.

“Come on, little man … Hang in there, bud,” a responding police officer can be heard saying in the body-camera video.

The Hinds County Sheriff’s Office said in an Oct. 8 update that the boy was in “very critical condition.” No further information about his condition has been released.

“This, it was nothing short of a miracle,” Edwards Police Chief Terrence Crump said, praising the dramatic rescue.

Five other children, ranging in age from 2 to 13, were also rescued from the burning home.

Authorities said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, including the blaze’s origin and manner.

Sheriff’s investigators “will be interviewing several individuals connected to the incident,” officials added.