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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Reporter: Chris Buckley

A Colorado Springs man is in critical condition after jumping out of his burning home Tuesday.

The fire started around 11:30 a.m. at 6687 Annanhil Place. Thirteen-year-old neighbor Wade Sissel was home watching TV at the time.  He wasn't feeling well and had taken the day off from school.

"I heard my dog start barking in the back yard, but she does that all the time so I thought it was probably nothing, " Sissel said.  "Then the doorbell started ringing, I get up to answer it and its our neighbor, and she's saying, 'call 911, call 911,' so as I'm calling I heard screaming in the background, and that really worried me."

He made the call and went outside, still on the phone with the dispatcher.  He saw flames, breaking glass - and his neighbor in a second-floor window.

"I saw him hanging out the back window screaming for help, and that just scared me so much," Sissel said.  "I told the dispatcher there's a man in the back window, his arm is red, he's burning, I kept watching him and then he jumped out of the window to save himself."

Crews were on scene within minutes.  Fire officials said the quick call and quick response time made all the difference.

"We had units on scene within five minutes and got water on the flames very quickly," Lt. Carl Miller said.  "We had advanced life-support taking care of the patient, who was immediately transferred back to the hospital."

Reports indicate the victim has third degree burns over half of his body.  First responders say it's likely he'll be airlifted to a burn unit.

Other family members were in the home at the time, but managed to get out safely.  Firefighters had the flames out in about 20 minutes.

"With that much fire that quickly, they were able to save a good portion of the building," Miller said.

Sissel said he had a bad cough from inhaling all that smoke, but he's happy that he stayed home from school.

"It feels pretty good," he said. "If I wasn't here something worse could have happened, the house could have kept on burning and it might have gotten worse."