Anival Angulo
36-year-old Anival Angulo being interviewed following the rescue. Las Vegas Fire Rescue

A homeless man from Las Vegas has been hailed a "true hero" after rescuing two small children from a potentially deadly blaze. The children, aged 10 months and 3 years, were trapped in their grandfather's apartment when a fire started in the kitchen.

Anival Angulo, 36, described walking through a neighbourhood last Friday morning (2 December) when he saw smoke and then heard the cries of the two children. Jumping a locked gate, he saw a girl standing at a door she was unable to open.

"[I] went to the door and saw the babies so I jumped the fence," Angulo told KSNV. "I wrapped up the babies and pulled them out. I knew I had to get them out."

The girl was behind a dead-locked door, which Angulo pulled open. The girl then ran to and wrapped her arms around Angulo before he noticed the leg of a second child and rescued them as well.

Both children went to hospital, where they were treated for smoke inhalation. Both children will be okay, according to Las Vegas Fire Rescue.

The accidental fire started around 11:30am when grease caught fire in the apartment's kitchen. It then spread to the living room and caused $50,000 (£37,000) of damage in total.

America's Red Cross are helping the family affected.

The children's grandfather was home, but unable to reach the children from where he was in the building, and escaped out of a window.

"It's obvious if this person hadn't been there, these children could've been burned or may have been killed in the fire," Las Vegas Fire Rescue's Tim Szymanski said.