A longtime Colorado Springs resident in the hospital with burns on his back is receiving financial help from his neighbors after a fire decimated his mobile home early Thursday morning.

Shortly before 7 a.m., Lynn “Doc” Greschke, 69, was pulled from the fire by a fellow resident at Aspen Grove Mobile Home Park before first responders arrived. Authorities said the resident likely saved Greschke’s life.

He was hospitalized with minor burn injuries, and he won’t have a home to come back to once he’s out. His neighbors are trying to prevent that.

Sitting on her porch across from the charred remnants of the mobile home, Brenda Padilla, 59, said she and her family were doing their regular morning routines on Thursday when they suddenly heard cries for help coming from outside.

When they left their mobile home, they saw a fire starting to devour the home of a fellow neighbor and friend they’ve grown to know since moving in eight years ago.

“My daughter flew out (of our house), and she heard Doc saying, ‘Help me!'” Padilla said. “(Then) she just rushed in and didn’t even think.”

Padilla said her daughter, Amanda Sanchez, just “went into a mode,” rushing through the flames and dragging Greschke out of the fire. He screamed in pain, she said, from burns on his back as he was pulled into the street by his arms.

Sanchez, who declined to be interviewed, provided The Gazette with a video of the blaze swallowing the mobile home.

Originating from the mobile home, the video shows the fire starting to spread to an unoccupied unit, as well as Greschke’s car. Officials said two unoccupied units were also caught in the blaze and suffered minor damage.

Also at risk were several trees that loomed over the homes, which Padilla said could have helped the fire spread even further.

Padilla dialed 911 and told an emergency dispatcher about her concerns about the fire’s threat to surrounding homes.

“And then, all of a sudden, boom! His car explodes,” Padilla said.

After the explosion, more residents ran outside as people scrambled to get parked cars out of the blaze’s path.

“We were all just like, ‘What do we do?’ We felt so helpless,” Padilla said. “We just had to stand there and watch the fire burn.”

Minutes later, the Colorado Springs Fire Department arrived. By 7:30 a.m., officials said the fire was under control, saying in a news release on Friday that it had been started by “improper use of smoking materials.”

Padilla said firefighters remained at the scene until early Friday morning to make sure that any kindling didn’t reignite.

The fire tore through Greschke’s home, turning what used to be a house of memories into a scorched wooden shell with no walls, windows or doors. The scent of ash and smoke lingered in the park Friday afternoon.

Public records indicate that Greschke has lived in the park since 1995.

Padilla said Greschke is expected to make a recovery. But he’s lost everything, and he doesn’t have family members in the area to lean on.

To help a friend in need, their tight-knit community launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds dedicated to helping Greschke get back on his feet by replacing essential items, the website reads.

“We’re just trying to do whatever we can to help him,” said Kevin French, the trailer park’s manager.

French, 66, and his son immediately came up with the idea for a fundraiser because Greschke has always watched out for his neighbors and would help out around the park when he could. He said the GoFundMe is a way they can repay him for that.

“This place is like a family,” Padilla said, recalling several times Greschke helped make sure her grandchildren made it home safe from school. “Everybody is just always there for everybody.”

French added that it’s “unsurprising” to him that the community has come together to help Greschke because it’s just “what the mobile park does.”

As of Sunday afternoon, the community raised $1,865. Organizers have a donation goal of $20,000, which French said is a number that he and his son thought would be “very helpful.”

Several members of the mobile park have pitched in, including Padilla and French. Padilla said members of a biker gang that Greschke belongs to have also contributed to the fund.

French said the owner of one of the unoccupied units also lost a lot to the fire, and they’ve been helping him out, too.

The Fire Department also has a resource book called “After the Fire” that aims to assist people who lost their homes to a fire with the help of the American Red Cross.

Red Cross can assist in providing temporary housing, food, medicine and other essential items.

The program provides a step-by-step guide on what to do after a fire and connects people to resources for those who need additional assistance.

The fire was the first major incident the park has had in decades, French said.

And Padilla said the tragedy has only strengthened the bonds in their little community.

“After it was over, we were talking all night. Everybody was there, making sure everyone was OK. Everyone we don’t know by name, we now do,” Padilla said. “Not a lot of mobile home parks are like that.”