Servon Vonnie Green, 25, who lives above Washington, said the victim had been living alone after his wife broke her hip and moved into an assisted-living facility six months ago.

“I woke up and I smelled smoke. People were knocking on doors, buzzing the alarm and yelling ‘Fire!'” said Green, who has lived in the 10-unit co-op her entire life. “I ran downstairs, right by Mr. Washington’s apartment. I saw firefighters trying to break down his door. But they were having trouble. There were like four or five locks … They were also trying to go through the window. They finally got him through the window and put him in the bucket.

“It took like 20 minutes for them to get him. He was a hoarder. I think all of the stuff made it harder.”

“I didn’t know what to do. I grabbed the baby, covered my mouth with my shirt and ran downstairs,” he said, referring to his 2-year-old granddaughter, Mariah Jean-Francois.

“My wife couldn’t get down the stairs because her knees were bad. She went into the bathroom,” Jean-Francois said. “When I got outside, firefighters were already there. I said, ‘There’s someone upstairs.’ They ran up and got her.”

Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Pfiefer said the fire started on the first floor of the four-unit building, but its cause was not immediately clear. The rescued woman, Elise Mathadore, and two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the blaze.

“I was worried, but I was okay,” Mathadore said, recounting her wait for help in the burning building. “The firefighters came to get me.”