ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Caleb Bisbee said it’s the smoke that woke him up.
“We have a pallet stove, that was our source of heat,” Caleb said. “It would always back up and release the smoke into the air so we didn’t think anything of it, but it gradually got worse until my mom got up to open the door and that’s when the fire kicked in.”
Wednesday night the Bisbee family woke up to their mobile home on fire.
“My mom was yelling ‘the house is on fire, the house is on fire,'” Caleb said. “We didn’t have much time.”
Inside was Caleb, his parents, a family friend, Bob Salztman and three pets. The family made it out with the exception of Caleb’s dad, Billy Bisbee.
“We were yelling out his name,” Saltzman said. “He was yelling out, ‘I can’t see.'”
Billy lost sight in one of his eyes years ago, so the night of the fire the smoke made it even more difficult for him to find his way.
“I had a small chance to get him out and I took it,” Caleb said. “Any small misstep and I wouldn’t have a father right now.”
A chance to save a life, but Caleb insists he’s no hero.
“I was afraid that if we would have lost my dad, that our family would have fallen apart and family is the most important thing in my life,” Caleb said.
Billy did have some bad burns from the fire. He is still in the hospital as of Sunday night, but he’s expected to be okay. The family is staying with other friends right now. Besides losing their home they also lost two of their pets.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family.