MARINERS HARBOR — An asthmatic man died trying to save people from a burning building early Sunday, according to police and friends.
Caleb Wilder, 37, of New Castle, Delaware, died shortly after midnight when a blaze erupted inside a Mariners Harbor Houses building at 124 Brabant St., police said.
The fire started in Apartment 2B of the building after a resident inside lit candles that eventually engulfed a bed in flames, police said.
The FDNY responded at 11:55 p.m. and the blaze was out by 12:36 a.m., officials said.
Wilder — who has asthma — got out of the building but rushed back in to try to quell the flames and rescue people inside, said Lee Michael Dobson, who grew up with Wilder.
"It's truly a sacrifice," said Dobson, 35. "He helped to save them."
Dobson said Wilder moved out of Staten Island when he was around 19, but visited often to see his mother who lived in the apartment that caught on fire.
"He was a family man, very genuine," Dobson said. "It's always the good ones that pass."
Firefighters found Wilder unconscious outside of the building and he was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
EMS also transported five other people with minor injuries to Richmond University Medical Center, according to the FDNY.
The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of Wilder's death and police said an investigation is ongoing.
