Updated 09/30/2009 11:59 PM
Store Owner Rescues Boy From Fire, Hailed As Hero
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A Bronx store owner is being called a hero after rescuing a four-year-old boy from a burning building Wednesday.
Billy Cretan, 33, says he sprang into action after he heard screams coming from an apartment above his Parkchester store on Zerega Avenue around 4:15 p.m.
He then grabbed a ladder and climbed the fire escape into the burning apartment on the fourth floor. He says a man was screaming that his grandson was inside.
Firefighters and EMS arrived to take the four-year-old to the hospital.
"I inhaled some of it and it was bad. I can't imagine how strong the kid is... I just held his head up," Cretan said. "I put my hand underneath his neck so he could breathe better. I felt his heartbeat. It was faint but he was all right. And I made sure I protected him with the curtain because they were throwing glass from on top of the stairs."
Cretan and the boy are in the hospital in serious but stable condition.
Fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire.