HOUSTON -- Neighbors tried to rescue a man from his burning home early Tuesday, but couldn't get in because of burglar bars, KPRC Local 2 reported.

When the fire broke out at his home on Broyles Street near Colingsworth Street at about 5 a.m., 79-year-old Thurman Roy was trapped inside.

Roy is handicapped. He lost a leg to diabetes and is confined to a wheelchair. He couldn't get out and two neighbors who were trying to rescue him couldn't get in through burglar bars.

"We heard him screaming, 'Help,'" neighbor Elijah Welch said.

Welch said he grabbed an ax. He first tried to pry off the bars on the front door and ended up smashing windows.

"After calling 911 (I) broke in a few windows, tried to go in," Welch said. "(I) figured out it was boarded house … wasn't no way to get to him. (I) pushed through the A/C, but about the time I was about to go in the window, they (firefighters) grabbed me to get out the way.

Welch said he was about to crawl into the burning house when firefighters arrived. They ripped down the burglar bars on the front door and brought Roy out.

Roy was rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital to be checked out for smoke inhalation. Roy's son said one of his father's legs was burned as well, but he will be OK.

"Whoever got him out of there, I'd like to thank them personally," Thurman Roy Jr. said.

Investigators said the fire started in the attic and may have been caused by an electrical problem.

Roy has lived alone in the home for several years. He had another close call a few months ago when a car crashed into his home late at night, but he escaped injury because he was sleeping in another part of the home.