Newark mayor rushes into burning home to save neighbor

(CNN) -- Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey dashed into a burning building Thursday night to help rescue a trapped woman, an act of heroism that sent him to the hospital.

"Thanks 2 all who are concerned. Just suffering smoke inhalation," Booker said on Twitter. "We got the woman out of the house. We are both off to hospital. I will b ok."

Video from the scene showed Booker hugging the woman, his right hand wrapped in gauze.

"Just some second-degree burns," said the mayor, who went to the hospital briefly before returning home.

The rescue marked Booker's latest foray into the media spotlight.

The mayor has enjoyed a steady rise in national prominence as an outspoken advocate for urban issues since taking office in 2006. His efforts to turn around a city long-struggling with high crime, chronic poverty, and a restrictive budget are chronicled on the Sundance Channel's series "Brick City."

Booker has fostered a reputation as a hands-on mayor. He was spotted shoveling city streets during a 2010 blizzard and used his Twitter feed to coordinate snow plows and the delivery of supplies. His reputation contrasts with several previous Newark mayors, who have been convicted of corruption-related charges.

The fire happened in a building next to Booker's home, the mayor told CNN Friday.

The mayor had returned home to see flames shooting out of a second- floor kitchen window. Flanked by two members of his security detail, Booker rushed toward the building, he said.

"Something exploded and sent a lot of flames over the steps, and my detail just grabbed me and started trying to drag me out of there," he said.

There was a "bit of an altercation," but he convinced the security personnel to let him go.

Booker said he ran through the kitchen and into a smoke-filled room, where he had trouble finding the woman.

"I looked back behind me and saw the kitchen was becoming more of an inferno, and at that point I thought to myself, 'This is it,' " he said.

But the woman called out and he was able to grab her from a back bedroom, run back through the burning kitchen, and to safety.

"He ran in -- without thinking for his own safety -- ran upstairs and assisted in rescuing the young lady," said Det. Alex Rodriguez, who witnessed the incident. "He burned his hand trying to pull the lady out."

The detectives who were with him helped get them out of the house.

The woman was hospitalized in stable condition.

"I'm very grateful this morning that I'm ok, and that everyone else is as well," Booker said.




CNN's Marina Landis and Mark Norman contributed to this report.