A sleeping North Babylon man was saved by a neighbor as his house went up in flames.

The fire broke out around 2:30 a.m. Sunday at a home on the eastbound Sunrise Highway service road. Homeowner Dominick Gennaro was asleep in his room.

Neighbor Christopher Cocuzza saw the home becoming engulfed in flames and sprung into action. He got a ladder and brought it to a window.

"I started banging at the window, trying to get through the window and get his attention, because he was sound asleep," Cocuzza recalled.

"I was sleeping in the bedroom and they banged on the window, woke me up told me to get out of the house, 'Your house is on fire!' So they pulled me out of the window," Gennaro told News 12. "I was in a state of shock. I couldn't believe it, I still can't believe it."

The fire spread to Gennaro's car and also torched the side of the house next door. One person was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Cocuzza said he had to help. "That's the godfather to one of my kids, I'm not going to let him die," he said. "I'm happy he's awake, he's alive, he's here."

Gennaro believes the fire began in the garage, possibly sparked by a heat lamp used for a pet iguana.

Gennaro, who has cerebral palsy and whose house was in foreclosure, tells News 12 that he has many friends and family that will help him through this difficult time.