What did Joe Hollins do? Unhoused man hailed as 'angel' after saving a family from Phoenix apartment fire

An unhoused man named Joe Hollins helped save a mother and her children from an apartment fire in Phoenix on Thursday. Joe has now been deemed a hero for his brave actions. The fire reportedly broke out at around 4 am local time in an apartment near 22nd Avenue and Indian School Road.

The woman who was trapped in the apartment has been identified as Claudia Jimenez. Besides Claudia and her children, Joe Hollins was also successful in saving the family dogs from the horrific apartment fire.

Jiminez further described Joe as an "angel" for his heroic actions that save the family. She has also expressed her gratitude to him for keeping her family safe and unharmed. Their belongings, however, have been destroyed in the fire.

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Joe Hollins and his wife used to camp near the apartment that caught fire

A horrific apartment fire broke out on Thursday, May 18, 2023, trapping the family of three inside. Claudia Jiminez, the woman trapped inside with her children, realized that the front door was jammed. Claudia said:

“I started yelling, yelling, ‘Please someone help me! There’s a fire! I can’t get out! I need someone to help me,’ and that when I looked up and I see this gentleman coming and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna help you.’”

When Jiminez yelled for help through the secondary-story apartment unit window, Joe Hollins heard her and came to the rescue. Hollins, along with his wife, would camp near the apartment that was on fire.

Upon hearing screams, he rushed to help her. He recalled the incident, saying:

“I actually tried to climb up the side of the window and grab ‘em as far as I could. Grab one, set her down, grab another, set down. Get the dog, then she didn’t want to come at first, scared she would fall. Then I said, ‘I got you, don’t worry.”

Joe Hollins asked Claudia to drop the daughters through the window, saying that he would catch them. The daughters were aged 8 and 1. Hollins succeeded in catching the girls and then caught the family dogs too.

Finally, he caught Claudia as well, saving the entire family. Joe Hollins said:

“She [Claudia] didn’t want to come at first. She was scared she was going to fall. I was like, ‘I got you. Don’t worry.’”

Upon being saved, Claudia thanked Joe for his courage, saying:

“I will be forever thankful to him, you know? Like I said, to me, he was an angel. Because of him, we’re here, we’re alive, and my daughters are safe.”

Soon after the incident, Hollins was tagged as a hero, but he claimed that anybody would have done that since there were children involved. A GoFundMe page has also been set up to provide some financial assistance to Claudia’s family after her entire home and belongings burned down.

The fundraiser aimed at raising $10,000, and had already raised over $7,880.