Reading firefighters this morning rescued a man trapped in a two-alarm fire in a city rowhome, and stopped the flames from spreading down the block.

The fire broke out just before 9 a.m. in a three-story home at 1035 N. 10th St. The cause is under investigation.

The rescued tenant, Comese Robinson, was taken to Reading Hospital, but his condition was not available.

First-floor tenant Mike Hurst was the only other person in the apartment building at the time, and he got out unhurt.

Witnesses said that at first smoke was coming from the second floor, but within seconds there were heavy flames from a second floor window leaping up to the third floor.

Robinson was on the third floor sticking his leg out the window, and was considering jumping, but then retreated back inside as flames rose higher, they said.

Firefighters arrived minutes after receiving the fire call, and a four-man crew entered through the front door. As one firefighter used a hose to control the flames on the second floor, three others climbed the stairs to the third floor and found Robinson.

They took him out the window and onto an aerial truck ladder at 9:06, just 12 minutes after receiving the fire call.

Robinson was conscious when placed in an ambulance, officials said.

Robinson, his girlfriend and three school-age children -- two boys and a girl -- lived on the top two floors, said the building's owners, Pamela and Phil Raifsnyder of Exeter Township.

The rest of the family apparently wasn't home at the time, said Second Deputy Chief Frank J. Nefos Jr.

Hurst said he was sleeping in his first floor apartment when he heard neighbors banging on the door and his dog barking.

"They were yelling 'fire, fire!' " he said.

He quickly put on pants and sneakers, and took his Australian shepherd Chino outside.

Hurst said everything he owned likely was lost, but felt fortunate that he and his dog were safe. He said he also was fortunate to have shipped his Christmas presents already and to have renter's insurance.

Pamela Raifsnyder said that when she heard about the fire she was scared to think her tenants were in danger.

"It's unreal," she said.

Jaime Herrera-Garcia and Walter Singleton, both of Reading, were driving down the street when they saw the smoke and called 9-1-1.

Herrera-Garcia said the flames were so intense he felt them even though he was inside his van and parked across the street.

"It just ignited," Singleton said.

He saw neighbors hurrying to adjacent homes to warn residents of the fire, and said several left those homes as a result.

If firefighters would not have gotten the flames under control quickly, they easily could have spread among the top floors of adjacent homes, Nefos said.

Homes at 1031, 1033 and 1037 N. 10th St. sustained smoke damage, he said.

An hour after arriving at the scene, firefighters were still pulling apart the upper ceilings, floors and windows of the home, and cutting holes in the roof to prevent flames from reigniting.

Nefos credited the firefighters who saved Robinson. It was crucial that the man operating the hose keep the flames from spreading, otherwise Robinson, as well as the other three firefighters, could have been killed, he said.

"Fire burns up, so the most dangerous spot is being above the flames, and that's where they were," Nefos said.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service