He is already being dubbed 'Supermayor', and has spawned his own Twitter meme. But on Friday, Newark mayor Cory Booker dismissed suggestions that he was a hero for pulling his next-door neighbour out of her burning home.
With his hand still bandaged after sustaining second-degree burns in the rescue, Booker told a press conference outside the burnt-out building in Newark that he thought he might die as he ran through the smoke-filled house searching for the woman, Zina Hodge.
"I felt fear. I really didn't think we were going to get out of there," said Booker, 42, who insisted that he had just done what any neighbour would do, "which is to jump into action to help a friend".
The dramatic rescue took place on Thursday night when Booker returned home after a TV interview to find his long-time neighbours' two-story home in flames with none of the residents outside. Booker's security detail managed to get most of the family out, but then Hodge's mother screamed that Hodge was still inside.
According to police detective Alex Rodriguez, who entered the burning building with Booker and is responsible for the mayor's safety, they attempted to pull the mayor away but he refused, saying the woman inside was going to die. Rodriguez was accompanied on Booker's detail by two other detectives, Duran Santos and Al-Tariq Whitley.
"He basically told me: 'This woman is going to die if we don't help her,' and what can I say to that?" Rodriguez said on CBS This Morning. "Without thinking twice, he ran into the flames and rescued this young lady."
Inside in the home, Booker found himself in a kitchen engulfed in smoke and flames. Unable to immediately locate the trapped woman, Booker moved up a flight of stairs with Rodriguez holding onto his belt behind him.
Booker said "something exploded" once he reached the top of the staircase.
"I didn't think we were going to get out of there," Booker said. "Suddenly I was at peace with the fact that I was going to jump out the window."
As the smoke and flames closed in, Booker said he could the woman calling from the bedroom: "I'm here, I'm here – help, I'm here."
"I just grabbed her and whipped her out of the bed," Booker said.
After slinging Hodge over his shoulder, Booker, helped by Rodriguez, made his way back out through the burning kitchen. "I didn't feel bravery, I felt terror," he said. "It was a moment I felt very religious – let me put it that way."
Outside they collapsed on the ground, unable to breathe. Booker, Hodge and three members of his security detail were taken to a hospital for treatment. The mayor suffered smoke inhalation and second-degree burns that he described as "very minor".
Hodge remains in stable condition at a hospital, suffering from second-degree burns.
"I think he's a super mayor — and should become president," said Hodge's mother, Jacqualine Williams.
Booker is known for his hands-on assistance to his constituents, even shoveling snow during a blizzard that snarled Newark and the north-east in 2010.
A prolific social media user, he tweeted late Thursday that he was fine and thanked his followers for their well wishes.
"Thanks 2 all who are concerned. Just suffering smoke inhalation," Booker tweeted. "We got the woman out of the house. We are both off to hospital. I will b ok."
Newark fire chief John Centanni said the mayor performed a professional rescue and may well have saved Hodge's life.