Livestream sees father-of-four plead for his life trapped in a fire

‘We can’t get out. Somebody send help’: Harrowing livestream shows father-of-four construction worker and colleague plead for their lives after they got trapped in Charlotte construction fire that killed them

• Demonte Tyree Sherrill, 30, who died in a fire in Charlotte, North Carolina, made a desperate plea for help on Facebook Live before being overcome by smoke
• Sherrill along with another worker were trapped on the fourth floor when the  blaze erupted on Thursday at a construction site
• Firefighters were unable to find the pair because of the limited visibility caused by the amount of smoke emanating from the fire 

Harrowing footage from a Facebook livestream at the scene of a devastating North Carolina fire showed two men trapped in the inferno and begging for help before they died. 

Demonte Tyree Sherrill, 30, was one of two people who died on Thursday in the massive blaze in Charlotte.

The footage showed Sherrill making a desperate plea for help before being overtaken by the flames. 

‘Yo. I’m in South Park right now at work. The building’s on fire and I can’t get out. It’s getting harder and harder for them to see us,’ Sherrill stated calmly on camera.

‘The building is on fire and I’m trapped inside. Me and my man,’ he said, as he showed himself and his colleague.

Crews were able to rescue 15 workers from the massive blaze that erupted at an under-construction apartment complex. One of those rescued was trapped by smoke in a high-rise crane. 

Demonte Tyree Sherrill, 30, who died in a fire in Charlotte, North Carolina, made a desperate plea for help on Facebook Live before being overcome by smoke

‘Yo. I’m in South Park right now at work. The building’s on fire and I can’t get out. It’s getting harder and harder for them to see us,’ Sherrill states calmly on camera

Charlotte Fire Department shared images of the inferno to their social media last week after the blaze started at the construction site

Sherrill appeared to remain incredibly calm in the footage until he called out for assistance. 

‘HELP! HELP! HELP!’ he yelled out desperately. 

‘Yo! This building’s on fire. I’m at work. We’re at South Park,’ he repeated once more before the video suddenly cuts out.

Sherrill could be heard crying out for help with his own family members witnessing his distressing final moments on the Facebook Live stream as the entire floor of the building filled with smoke.

‘I was hoping but just from the (Facebook Live), and the way the room filled up with smoke, I didn’t see it being any hope at that time,’ his mother, Onita, told WSOC.

She said she felt numb and in shock following the horrific ordeal.

Sherrill and another person died in the fire while crews rescued 15 from the blaze 

Firefighters were hampered by visibility due to the amount of smoke caused by the massive fire

At one point, a trapped crane operator attempted to rescue the two men before he was rescued from the high-rise structure

Flames could be seen coming out from the building from all sides as fire took hold

Fire investigators confirmed the blaze started accidently when a trailer was spraying insulation material 

Sherrill was only on his third day of work at the site as he fitted windows at the newly constructed apartment block. 

‘He was a good man. A loving father. A caring person and he just wanted to be with his children, his family,’ she added.

Sherrill’s father also saw his son’s hopeless plight.

‘I went to the scene and all the smoke … I mean, I couldn’t watch,’ Terry Campbell told Channel 9. 

‘Then I got in contact with his bossman and that’s when his boss let me know it was him,’ Campbell said.

‘We need time to grieve…We need some time to take this all in,’ Chrystina Stovall, Sherrill’s fiancée told the Charlotte Observer. ‘I was on the phone with him when he was in that building, and it was burning down and he was screaming for help.’

Firefighters tried to reach the two men and heard their pleas, but had to abandoned their own rescue attempt. 

‘They were searching in an area obviously with limited visibility,’ Charlotte Fire Department Chief Reginald Johnson said, according to WCNC.

The incident happened at a multistory building that was under construction after a spray insulation foam trailer on the ground floor suddenly ignited according to Charlotte Fire’s subsequent investigation.

Sherrill was only on his third day of work at the site as he fitted windows at the newly constructed apartment block.

One worker told local news that they had been told the fire was started due to a generator 

The collapse of the building was captured on video and shared onto social media 

Flames from the building could be seen from some distance away and even appeared on weather radar

More than 100 other workers escaped the flames as the building came crumbling down. 

Reuben Holmes of Alabama was the other worker to die in the blaze which broke out on the fourth floor of the building, which was still under construction. 

The flames spread rapidly because of the amount of exposed wood at the site. 

At one point, a crane operator who was trapped in his cab spotted the two workers trapped on a balcony and tried to save them by swinging a basket over to them, but the blaze was too intense and he was unable to reach the pair.

‘We got the crane over there on the basket and tried to get them into the basket so we could get them down but that is when the smoke started to get blacked out and we had no view of them,’ Alexa Escobar told WSOC. 

The crane operator was later saved after spending nearly an hour above the flames. By then, the two other men were dead. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise funds for the father of four which has so far raised $10,000

Johnson explained during a press conference that firefighters at the scene were hampered due to limited visibility as they attempted to find the workers. 

‘The men and women of the Charlotte Fire Department send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Mr. Sherill and Mr. Holmes,’ Charlotte Fire said in a statement Tuesday. 

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles expressed his condolences to Sherrill’s family, describing him as a dedicated worker, loving father, and family-oriented man. Sherrill’s children are aged 13, 12, 10 and 5. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise funds for the father of fourm which has raised $10,000.

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