A hero who helped rescue a family from their burning home on New Year’s Day has said he “had to do something”. 

Early in the hours on Thursday morning, a petrol bomb was thrown into a family home in Finglas, North County Dublin. 

The fire spread rapidly through the three storey property, all while people were still trapped inside. 

Across the street, local resident Emmanuel first realised something was wrong when he heard a bang, followed by his sister screaming. 

“My first thought was just to run to the kitchen and I looked out the window and I saw like a burning flame in front of my house,” he recalled on Lunchtime Live. 

“So, I went to open the door.” 

The property in Finglas. Picture by: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

A young girl ran up to him and explained that her mother and sisters were all upstairs in the burning building. 

“At that point, nobody knew what to do,” he added. 

“Like everyone was just screaming, everyone was shouting.”

At first, Emmanuel was so shocked and unsure what to do. 

But the fire was spreading quickly as well and he decided to act. 

“Oviously we had to do something because the second floor didn't look as bad as the first floor,” he continued. 

“We saw all the kids were gathered up in one specific area. So, we got the idea just to break the window because that's the best thing we could do since the fire didn't spread there.

“We could see all of them and they were just like banging on the windows. 

“We were like if they're banging on the window, you might as well just break it.

“So, we told them to stand back and we just started throwing like rocks at the window till it smashed.”

The burnt propety in Finglas. Picture by: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

Emmanuel and other neighbours encouraged the family to jump down, promising to catch them and break their fall.  

“Obviously, the first person to jump, they were kind of nervous at first, but they jumped,” he said. 

“Once she jumped, the rest of them just didn't think about it.” 

While all family members survived the attack, they were taken to hospital for medical treatment. 

Gardaí have appealed for anyone with any information to contact them.

Main image: The burnt property in Finglas. Picture by: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie