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3 Cheers: Good Samaritans Terry Phillips, Ronald Burgess Rescue Children From Fire

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In Northeast Philadelphia, two good Samaritans jumped into action to save two children trapped inside a burning building.

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It was just a normal Thursday morning when Ronald Burgess saw the smoke.

terry phillips and ronald burgess
Credit: (CBS3)

Two children were trapped inside a Northeast Philadelphia building and he could hear them crying. Burgess ran to the back of the building, and Terry Phillips was right beside him.

"The kids were halfway out the window," said Phillips. "They're not going to make it jumping by themselves. Luckily, I was there with the other guy and we could catch them."

Together, they told the little girl and little boy to jump.

"He kept saying you're sure you're gonna catch me, you're sure you're gonna catch me," said Burgess. "We said, 'Come on. Jump. Jump.'"

And with that, the children were safe.

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It was a leap of faith into the arms of strangers who didn't even know one another.

But Burgess and Phillips know what it means to be a neighbor, to be willing to catch one of their own when called.

That's what community is all about--caring for those around you because we're all in this together.

When their neighbors called for them, they answered. For that, Ronald Burgess and Terry Phillips get three cheers.

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