SEVEN FIELDS — The man who called 911 and assisted Pittsburgh Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson after his townhouse caught fire this morning called the experience “like something out of a movie.”

Dave Van Atta Jr., who lives next door to Wilson at 139 Jameson Way, said the sight of Wilson’s extensive burns is “something I’m not going to get out of my head any time soon.”

Van Atta, son of Dave Van Atta Sr., lives at the adjoining townhouse with his mother.

He said he awoke about 2:30 a.m. to the smell of smoke. He ran outside after rousing awake his mother.

“I ran outside to the back porch and looked over, and Kirby’s kitchen was completely engulfed in flames,” Van Atta said.

Van Atta quickly called 911 and began loudly pounding on Wilson’s front door, not knowing if the man was home or if he had already left for the Steelers playoff game in Denver this Sunday.

“About five minutes later he came out, and it was like something out of a movie,” he said. “He opened the door and there was smoke just billowing out behind him. I could tell he was burnt badly and he was wheezing from all the smoke.”

He added that Wilson “was definitely burned pretty badly, from the back of his head down to his feet.”

After Wilson emerged from the blaze, Van Atta said he and a neighbor stayed with the injured man until paramedics arrived minutes later.

Paramedics took Wilson to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh by helicopter shortly after, according to Cranberry police. However, hospital officials said today they had no record of him.

Wilson, 50, suffered “pretty serious burns,” according to Bill Hayes, Adams Area Volunteer Fire Department fire chief.