3 children, 1 man in hospital after fire at duplex in Lower Sackville

Four people were taken to hospital, at least one with serious injuries, after a fire early Saturday in a duplex in Lower Sackville, N.S.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency District Chief Robert Hebb said they were called at around 3:12 a.m. to a structure fire on Riverside Drive. Ten units responded.

RCMP say a 40-year-old man is in critical condition in hospital.

Gerrid Hunt, a neighbour, pulled the man out the burning building.

He said he was initially alerted to the fire by his 13-year-old daughter. He ran over to help before fire services arrived.

He says he found the man's wife crying on the deck, informing Hunt that her husband was passed out on the floor of the main level. 

"I tried to run in the house, but the smoke got me," Hunt said. "It took me three tries. I ended up going on my elbows and my knees and … feeling around trying to find them because I couldn't see.

"When I found what I thought was a human, I just started dragging him towards the door." 

Hunt said he had difficulties finding the door but he eventually escaped the burning building and pulled his neighbour outside with him. 

"Not sure if he was breathing or just not breathing well," he said. "But I just give him one big hammer fist on the chest and he come to.… (I) dragged him down to the paramedics after that," he said.

Hunt and another person brought the man down to the driveway of the property where they waited for an ambulance.

Hunt says the man and his wife lived in the duplex next to his. There were four children in the house.

Three children ages five, six and nine were removed from the house by firefighters. The children were on the top level of the house, according to Hunt. 

"They got two of them out and then they went back in for the third one," he said. "And all I could do was pray while they were doing CPR on them, and still praying now."

They were taken to hospital and their condition is not known.

Another two people, a 37-year-old woman and a two-year-old child, were able to exit the building on their own. They did not require medical attention, according to police. 

Crews fought the fire for around two and a half hours, Hebb said.

Hunt says he is fine despite his residence also sustaining minor damage, but his family's hearts are heavy. He said his daughter is particularly upset.

"She's got a big heart," he said. "So, she's pretty broken up right now, to be honest. But we'll get through it together." 

RCMP say an investigation into the cause of the fire has begun.