'OUR PARISIAN HERO': Man saves family trapped by fire on sixth-floor ledge

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Before Fousseynou Samba Cissé became a national hero in France, he did heroic work of a different kind — as a caretaker for public middle schools in Paris.

On Friday, Cissé came home from a week of work and wanted only one thing: to rest. But, as he told French public radio, he heard a nearby fire alarm and went to investigate. Through his neighbour’s apartment, he saw a woman and children trapped by flames inside their apartment, desperately calling for help through the window. He jumped into action, climbing onto a ledge on the sixth floor, where he was able to grab the children from the window of the burning apartment and carry or help them to safety.

In all, Cissé helped save six people that day: two adults and four children, including two infants, according to French news outlets. A neighbour recorded the act of bravery and posted it online, turning Cissé into an overnight celebrity and earning him the attention of the French government.

Cissé told Radio France he felt proud of what he did and said that in the moment, he did not hesitate.

“They had to be saved, that’s it. I didn’t hesitate. I jumped automatically,” he said, adding that he “didn’t think” about the danger at all.

Paris Police Chief Laurent Nuñez said Cissé will receive a medal at a ceremony Sunday for “courage and devotion” to honour his “brave and heroic action.”

French President Emmanuel Macron called Cissé on Tuesday to congratulate him and invite him as a guest of honour to the upcoming Bastille Day parade on July 14, according to a recording of the call published by the outlet Brut.

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The city of Paris called him “our Parisian hero.”

Recounting the day to Radio France, Cissé said he quickly realized that the fire started on the floors below but that two families were trapped by the thick smoke on the sixth floor.

Video of the scene shows a large group of people gathered below, looking up at the fire and the people stuck in the apartment. A neighbour can be heard on the video speaking with emergency services and describing the rescue attempt led by Cissé.

“There were a lot of people down there watching them, filming them, screaming for help,” he said, adding that his split-second decision to go out onto the ledge “wasn’t calculated.”

“I went on instinct,” he said. “It’s the heart telling you, ‘No, you have to go.'”

In a video posted by the city, Cissé said he “jumped out the window” when he saw a woman “holding out her baby, hoping for someone to come and help.”

He said he only realized afterward the potential danger he had faced. “I was facing a void from the sixth floor where I could fall. It wasn’t easy, so afterward, given the seriousness [of the situation], I felt happy. Saving a life, even if it’s just one person, but especially several people at the same time, is something magnificent.”

French media outlets reported that Cissé does not have French citizenship but has a residency permit allowing him to work. He told Radio France that he works as a contractor for the city of Paris in middle schools and that he cannot be hired full time because he is not a French citizen. He said he hoped his act of bravery could help resolve his situation.

Cissé is not the first man to become an overnight sensation for a heroic rescue that went viral. In 2018, 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama also met Macron and was feted by the city of Paris after a passerby recorded him scaling four stories of an apartment building to rescue a child dangling from a balcony, earning him the nickname of “Spider-Man of Paris.”

Gassama, an undocumented immigrant from Mali, had been in France for only a few months at the time of the rescue. Four months later, he became a naturalized French citizen in recognition of his efforts that day. In 2023, he told Radio France that he was living “peacefully” with his family in a suburb of Paris and working as a security guard in bars and restaurants. “My life changed,” he said.

But while stories like Gassama’s are inspiring and uplifting, some critics have chastised the government for rewarding immigrants who perform heroic acts by granting them citizenship while millions of others wait years for a decision from French authorities on their immigration status.

“To extraordinary migrants, the homeland is grateful. What of the others?” wrote French newspaper Libération at the time.