By BRAD MORIN
Democrat Staff Writer

SOMERSWORTH — Firefighters have taken to calling him "Spider-Man."

Dave Hopkins, 17, of South Berwick, Maine, was hailed as a hero for his actions during an early morning fire on Easter Sunday. Hopkins had climbed out of a third-story window to summon help and then climbed back up to assist two women and a toddler.

"As far as I’m concerned, he was a hero," Somersworth Fire Chief Paul Vallee said this morning.

The fire at 206 Main St. was reported at 4:04 a.m. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, and only one of the three apartment units sustained damage, Vallee said. Firefighters determined the blaze was accidentally caused by a gas heater on the second floor, he said.

Hopkins, a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, was staying at the apartment with his girlfriend, Molly Cooley, her roommate, Heidi White, and White’s 3-year-old son, Chase. Hopkins said he was sleeping when Cooley awoke and said she smelled smoke.

"I didn’t say anything. I just jumped out of bed," Hopkins said.

Hopkins opened the bedroom door and was met by thick, black smoke. He alerted White and her son and then looked to summon help.

Unfortunately, the telephones were located downstairs where the fire was. Hopkins told the women to shut the door and block the smoke with towels. Then he went out the window.

Hopkins jumped down to a deck on the second floor, then jumped again to the driveway below. He knocked on a neighbor’s door and received no response.

Hopkins remembered that he had a cellular phone in his car, but the keys were back inside the apartment. Cooley and White were also calling for help, so he climbed back up onto the deck using whatever foothold he could find.

"Somehow, he climbed back up the side of the house," Vallee said.

Hopkins was able to help Cooley, White and her son onto the second-story deck. He got back down to the ground and found another neighbor, who was already on the phone with the police.

Rescuers were able to evacuate the other tenants and help the women and boy get down from the deck.

Hopkins said the apartment was heavily damaged, and the Red Cross arrived to assist Cooley and White. He thanked the firefighters and police officers for their response, noting that one of them provided Chase with an Easter basket to cheer him up.

Vallee said some of the firefighters were calling Hopkins "Spider-Man" after the popular comic book character who can scale walls.