'I ordered McDonald's at 2am - then I heard chilling screaming coming from outside'

Incredible footage has captured the moment a brave 17-year-old boy saved his elderly neighbour from a house fire in the dead of night. Joel Keates, from Altrincham in Greater Manchester, had ordered from McDonald's in the early hours of Friday morning (April 4) when he heard alarming screams from outside.

Rushing downstairs, he was met with the sight of smoke billowing from his elderly neighbour's windows and flames rapidly spreading. Without hesitation, Joel contacted the fire brigade before dashing back inside to wake up his father Dean Keates and step-mother Emily Haddock to get additional assistance. The family successfully ushered their neighbour to safety, with no serious injuries reported, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The incident was captured on Dean and Emily's Ring doorbell camera with terrifying footage showing Joel running to respond to his neighbour's screams before returning home to ask for help, as thick smoke fills up the air.

Speaking to the MEN, Joel said: "It was around 2am, and I'd ordered a McDonald's to the house because I'd just broken up for the Easter holidays. So I was sat up in my room and I heard screaming so I went to have a look.

"It was pretty obvious there was a fire, there was smoke coming out of the windows and the roof - the house hadn't gone up in flames since but it did soon after."

The sixth-form student, who is preparing for his B-tec exams, recalled how he just thought "go" when he realised something was wrong. He said: "I didn't really have a second thought," he added. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Following the successful rescue of his neighbour, Joel described her as being "very shaken up", mentioning that she requested his continued presence while he fetched blankets and a coat for her.

"I don't think the realisation of what happened has really hit me yet," he said. "It's still not fully in my head that that's what I went and did."

Emily Haddock, Joel's stepmother, said the family are "extraordinarily proud" of the young man's quick thinking.

She said: "We've lived there for six years, and it's an elderly neighbour who we know pretty well. We're extraordinarily proud of him and how brave he was.

"He initially thought someone was being stabbed, so he was so brave to even come out and see what was going on. As you can see in the video, without a second thought he just ran to help. We're very proud of him."