Cambridge Man Saves Resident From Trailer Home Inferno

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An elderly man was rescued from his trailer home in Cambridge, Minn. when it caught on fire due to exploding oxygen tanks Saturday morning.

Cambridge Fire crews were called to the blaze just before 9 a.m. in a trailer home at 2235 Red Pine Dr. S.

When they arrived, they learned that the sole occupant had been pulled from the fully-engulfed trailer by a man identified as Tom Simon.

"He didn't even think, he just raced over," neighbor Marlene Tauzell said. "Tom just picked him up like a baby and brought him over to his house."

Fire officials say oxygen tanks inside the home caught fire and exploded through the roof and the side of the trailer "like missiles."

The trailer's resident was taken to Cambridge Medical Center. Their condition is unknown.

Firefighters say Simon likely saved the man's life.

Corey Bustrom from the Cambridge Fire Department commended Simon's heroics.

"Tom saved the occupant's life and Cambridge Fire, as well as the City of Cambridge, considers Tom a hero," Bustrom said. "For somebody to enter into a burning house like that it really is a heroic measure."

"He's a hero in my eyes," Frank Simon, Tom's father, said.

"Tom is a great guy and it just sounded like Tom, something he would do," Tauzell said.

Crews were able to quickly put out the fire, which did not spread to any nearby structures.

The man rescued from the home was taken to the hospital. His family told neighbors he's expected to be OK.