A Jefferson County man is being credited with helping to save an elderly man’s life in Birmingham after he heard screams for help and jumped into action without another thought.

Keena Dowdell, a 29-year-old Forestdale man who works as a utility locator, had just finished a job Thursday morning at Graymont Avenue and Third Street North when he heard something amiss.

“I had put everything in my truck and was about to pull off. As I was going over my work order, I heard somebody screaming,’’ Dowdell said. “I rolled my window down and actually thought it was a woman down the street.”

As he looked around, he spotted the elderly man standing behind a locked door. The man was yelling, “Help.”

“It looked like he was trying to get out,’’ Dowdell said. “I didn’t know he was handicapped until after I got him out.

Dowdell saw a little bit of smoke but initially thought the man had a fire going in the fireplace.

He got closer and asked the man if his house was on fire, and the man said “yes.”

“I said jump out the window and he said, ‘I can’t.’’ Dowdell said the victim was handicapped.

Dowdell ran back to his truck and grabbed a shovel.

“I started busting out the window right by the front door, but he had burglar bars inside the glass,’’ he said. “It was getting wiggly, but I didn’t think it was going to break.”

He then went to the front door, which also was iron.

“I just got to pulling on the door as hard as I could, and eventually I got him out of there,’’ Dowdell said. “I didn’t think I was going to get the door open, but I was going to pull on it until I took the whole house down.”

As soon as the man was free from his burning home, he collapsed on his front porch. Dowdell carried him out into the yard, but by then smoke was pouring from the home and blanketed the area all the way to the street.

Two other passersby had stopped, and the group moved the victim across the street until paramedics arrived.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Battalion Chief Jackie Hicks said the victim was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. He said Dowdell’s actions were crucial in saving the victim’s life.

“I didn’t think twice about it,’’ Dowdell said. “That man was screaming, ‘Help me,’ and I knew I had a shovel.”

“I was supposed to have been gone (from the area) about 10 minutes prior,’’ he said, “and if I had been, it would have been worse for him.”