Uber Eats driver rescues family from burning building in southwest Detroit

(CBS DETROIT) — An Uber Eats driver is being hailed as a hero after saving a family from a burning building in Detroit early Friday morning.

Joe Ferullo, a retired Ford worker from New Boston, was making deliveries for Uber Eats at night when he drove to the burning building at Michigan Avenue and 51st Street.

“As I turned the corner, I saw a woman open a window, and she was maybe like a four- or five-year-old child, dangling him out the window and holding him by the arms,” he said.

Ferullo parked his car and ran over. He remembered a tragic fire that took the lives of a friend’s family and was determined to help.

‘I was under there. And I looked up at her and just said, ‘I’ll catch him.’ She hesitated for a while. It was as if our eyes were slightly closed. And I thought, ‘I got it.’ And she let them go her other son out the window. But she put him head first. And she didn’t speak English, so it was hard to communicate… I was like, ‘No, not your head.’ I was like, ‘Go feet first,'” Ferullo said.

In a desperate move, the mother bear hugged her child and jumped out of the window. Ferullo tried to catch them, but all three ended up on the ground.

“People didn’t take out their cell phones. There were a lot of people working together, like even people leaving the building. Once they got outside, they were trying to help people. I mean, it was uplifting to see people working so together to get those to help people,” Ferullo said.

Ferullo says he has a sore knee, but is happy to hear everyone is alive.

The Detroit Fire Department says a 50-year-old woman, a 34-year-old woman, a 9-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy all suffered from smoke inhalation but are expected to be OK.

One firefighter suffered minor burns but was treated and released.

In addition to those who lost their homes in the early morning fire, a first-floor business is now trying to figure out what’s next.

Jose Rivera owns Detroit Forever 313, a store that sells hats, hoodies, t-shirts and other clothing. The water used to extinguish the fire damaged everything.

“I’ve had a flood of people contacting me asking if I needed donations and if they could help me with anything,” Rivera said.

He estimates his losses between $15,000 and $20,000, but is grateful that those living upstairs made it out safely.

“It’s terrifying. You know? I see the kids walking by here every day. You know, they walk by and say hello and then go upstairs. So they’re very heartbreaking little kids; they don’t know any better,” Rivera said. .

“If she hadn’t panicked, I don’t think the outcome would have been the same,” Ferullo said.