Brave mayor lauded

NEWARK, N.J. - In a smoky stairwell, with embers falling from the ceiling and his neighbor slung over his shoulder, Cory Booker encountered his "proverbial come-to-Jesus moment."

The mayor of New Jersey's largest city was carrying out a constituent whom he had rushed into a burning home to save, first pushing aside his security detail who tried to hold him back by his belt.

He didn't feel like a hero: "I felt terror," he told reporters Friday, holding a children's fire safety video with his burned, bandaged right hand.

Booker, 42, who has dug snowbound residents out in a blizzard, lived in a rundown housing project to make a point, and tagged along on police patrols to lecture drug dealers, took on a new status Friday: the politician who can do almost anything.

Thousands took to Twitter, calling Booker Superman and inviting him to solve the North Korean missile crisis or run for president. New Jersey Gov. Christie called it a "brave move," and Newark's fire director said the mayor was one of the most heroic men he had ever met.

Standing in front of the boarded-up home, Booker said, "I did what any neighbor would do: help a neighbor."

He ended up with second-degree burns and suffering from smoke inhalation late Thursday after rescuing Zina Hodge, 47, from her smoky bedroom in the house next to his in a rough neighborhood of brick houses, storefront churches, and small bodegas.

Booker rushed into the burning home shortly after returning from taping a television appearance, when Hodge's mother screamed that her daughter was trapped.

Following faint calls of, "I'm here, I'm here. Help! I'm here," Booker lifted Hodge from her bed and carried her on his shoulders through the burning kitchen, where flames had rolled over the roof and back down the wall.

He nearly panicked in the stairwell, he said, but Newark Detective Alex Rodriguez helped him bring Hodge out. He couldn't see through the smoke.

"That was the moment I had a conversation with God," Booker said. "I really didn't think we were going to get out of there."

Hodge was listed in serious condition Friday in the intensive-care unit of the burn center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Fire officials said she suffered second-degree burns to her back and neck and smoke inhalation.

Hodge's mother, Jacqualine Williams, called the second-term mayor "a super mayor" who should become president.

Booker downplayed his actions. "I didn't feel bravery, I felt terror," he said. "I couldn't breathe. It was a moment I felt very religious, let me put it that way."

Even critics of the mayor, some of whom refer to him as "Story Booker" for what they call a history of courting publicity to boost his national image while ignoring problems in the impoverished city, offered grudging praise.

"I commend the mayor for what he's done, but the people in this city need jobs," said Joanne Miller, who lives in Booker's neighborhood. "That's the real kind of hero we need in this city."

 Booker, who has attracted celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and a $100 million schools donation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has brushed off rumors that he has his eye on higher office. But he set up a federal political action committee, fueling speculation that he might run for governor or U.S. Senate.

When Booker arrived in his neighborhood Thursday night, two members of his security detail had already taken several members of Hodge's family from the burning house. Williams was screaming that her daughter was still inside.

The officers tried to block the mayor, but Booker, who is 6-foot-3 and a former All-American tight end from Stanford, was no match for Rodriguez, who is trained to protect, not fight, him.

"It wasn't easy trying to hold him by the belt," said Rodriguez. "He was insisting, 'If I don't go in there, this lady is going to die.' "

Once outside the burning building, "we both just collapsed," the mayor said.

Officials said the fire likely started in the kitchen.

Booker tweeted that he was fine and thanked his followers for their well wishes. "I will b ok," he wrote.

The Twittersphere blew up Friday with thousands of tweets from Booker's million-plus Twitter followers about the rescue. Hundreds of tweets were posted every few minutes on #CoryBookerStories, one of several new hashtags created to celebrate Booker's heroics.

Booker tweeted that he had seen the hashtag, but cautioned: "Grateful to #CoryBookerStories 4 bringing smiles, fire safety, however, is a serious matter," and he linked to tips on the U.S. Fire Administration's website.

"I really feel thankful to God," he said Friday. "I feel a sense of gratitude today, to God, that I'm here."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker saves life in fire, then catches fire on Internet. Read Matt Katz's blog, Christie Chronicles, on philly.com.EndText