Man helps neighbor dangling naked from a window escape house fire

(WJBK) - A man escaped a house fire with only a broken leg after dangling from a window and dropping to the ground.

Aric Mallett is home from the hospital after being seen by neighbors dangling naked from the second story of his burning home.

"All of a sudden I heard a window break. When the window broke, my power went off," he recalled.

The fire broke out at about 3:45 a.m. at Mallett's home on American Street off Livernois and Joy Road.

Mallett says the flames spread so quickly, once he knew what was going on, he jumped out of bed, and didn't have a second to throw on any clothes before jumping out his bedroom window.

"Flames had shot up through the floor so I had no choice but to jump out the window," he said.

Donald Stokes saw Mallett dangling from the window.

"I wasn't expecting to see something like that, this time of the morning, I was just winding down from a day at work, and I see my neighbor hanging out the window," he said.

Neighbors dragged the man to safety, trying to put out the flames with a garden hose until firefighters came.

"He was in really bad pain. He was like, "Help me, help me,' I called the ambulance and called the fire department and they came quick," Stokes said.

The home appears to be a total loss.

Arson investigators have now ruled out any suspicious cause, believing the fire may have been accidental, possibly caused by an illegal electrical hookup.

Now the man who lived there alone is left with nothing but a pair of pants lent to him by a friend.

"I just lost everything. I don't even have a pair of clothes. Or a pair of socks," he said.