Good Samaritan wakes up families in burning townhouse building

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Firefighters responding to a three-alarm fire in San Jose Thursday morning received help from a neighbor driving by.

The fire started in a row of townhouses just before 6:00 a.m. at Velasco Drive and Don Juan Circle. Chris Flores was on his way to get coffee when he noticed ash in the air. "I kept looking up and I thought maybe I was seeing things, because I didn't see any fire, and when I got here, I noticed the building was on fire," he said. "So I got out and started slamming on doors and started trying to get people out."

Many of the families Flores woke up were disoriented. One woman grabbed her personal documents and a favorite pair of shoes. A young girl ran out in her pajamas. "I was a little bit scared and I was a little bit about to cry," said Allyson Jaimes. She worried the fire would spread to her home.

Once the fire was out, Jaimes approached Flores with a smile, told him thank you and gave him a hug. Flores says he doesn't feel like a hero, even though the families he woke up are calling him one. "Just trying to help, you know. I don't want anyone to go through that, you know. I was just trying to do what anyone would do, I believe."

No one was injured and firefighters were able to contain the damage to three units. San Jose Fire Department Captain Brad Cloutier says nine adults and three children are displaced. The cause of the fire is under investigation.