Rock Hill man saves neighbor from burning house

By Toya Graham - The Herald

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Ronald Titus didn't stop to think.

Flames coming from a house across the street warranted action. Seventy-nine year old James McCrorey was inside.

"Everybody said Mr. McCrorey was in the house," Titus said about a house fire that happened less than 24 hours ago along Cornelius Street. "I said, 'We have to get him out.' I was running then."

Neighbors called for help, and the Rock Hill Fire Department was dispatched to 245 Cornelius Street near Crawford Road at 12:16 p.m. Tuesday.

Yet, there wasn�t time to wait, Titus said.

"I saw him through the smoke right before I went in," Titus said of McCrorey. "Once I saw him, I had to go in."

But Titus, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, thermal long sleeve and tennis shoes couldn�t go through the front door, he said.

"That�s where all the fire was," he said.

So the Rock Hill man, who celebrates his 34 birthday Thanksgiving Day, ran to a back window that was broken by neighbors.

"I jumped through the window," he recalled. "I could see the fire coming close to the back bedroom. It was real smoky.

"Once I spotted him, I told him to be still," Titus added. "I grabbed him from the back under his arms and pulled him towards the window. The rest of the neighbors helped me lift him out of the window."

The group carried McCrorey 10 to 15 yards from his house, Titus said.

McCrorey was airlifted to a Charlotte hospital, according to the Rock Hill Police Department. He was transferred to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he remains in critical condition.

Fire officials said damages were estimated at $50,000, and the fire remains under investigation.

Rock Hill police said Titus pulled McCrorey from the burning house.

Almost 24 hours after the fire, Titus is grateful he was in the right place at the right time to help.

"I saved his life,� Titus said. �He�s a great man."

Yet, he doesn�t want accolades, despite what neighbors and family say.

"I was just helping," he said.

But don�t tell his 6-year-old son, Ja�Michael, that.

"My son said, �You�re my hero, daddy," Titus said. But "I was just thinking about saving another person�s life. It was a blessing that we got him out safely."