Patterson Man awarded the keys to the city after rescuing neighbors from his burning house

PATTERSON, New Jersey (WABC) – A man has received the keys to the city of Paterson for his heroic actions that saved his neighbors.

Rahson Dixon rescues her neighbors from her Rosa Parks Boulevard home in Paterson after the house caught fire in April.

“There was no time to be scared,” Dixon said. “It was God’s will for me to be where I was that day.”

The house is now badly damaged by the fire.

But the Lapax family is grateful to be alive.

“You appreciate it because you never expected this to happen to you,” Jude Lapeaux said.

Dixon said he didn’t think twice before entering the house.

Read more: Family seeks answers after man killed in hit-and-run accident in Paterson last month

“The fire was coming out of the windows,” Dixon said. “So I dashed into the house.”

Dixon, a 13-year veteran of the Public Works Department, was honored by the mayor of Paterson by presenting him with keys to the city.

“There’s a young man in Paterson who is a superhero in his own right,” said Mayor Andre Sayegh.

Dixon says it was fate that kept him there that day. He was going home when he saw a fire on the second floor of the house.

He led the charge along with two others to rescue everyone.

Dixon finds Jude Lapacke and his son sleeping in the attic.

“We’re kicking the door and I think once he realized it was a fire we went back to the second floor,” Dixon said.

While there, he helped save Lapix’s mother and 7-year-old daughter.

“Without them, I wouldn’t know because I was asleep,” Lapix said.

Dixon said he struggled to get Lapax’s 84-year-old father out of the house.

“Me and my little brother Terence, we grabbed him and said ‘Pop we gotta go,'” Dixon said. “He kept saying my home, my home.”

Lapax said that his father did 3 jobs to support his family.

“Imagine if you worked so hard for an object and suddenly burst into flames just like that,” Lapix said.

While Lapeaux counts his blessings, the Patterson fire department also recognizes Dixon’s courage.

“This is the era where people get out their cellphones and start videotaping,” Patterson Fire Chief Brian McDermott said. “He didn’t do it. He put it down and acted. He did everything we would. He did it without training, without gear, and did it from the heart.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Read also: Tips to beat the heat as soon as summer comes

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