ESCAMBIA COUNTY - Residents of one Escambia County neighborhood are shaken up tonight, after a mobile home fire took the life of one of their neighbors.

The blaze broke out around 2:30 Friday afternoon on Moreno Street.

Witnesses say firefighters didn't do enough to try to save 33-year-old James "Pee Wee" Meers, and that he was left to die on his front porch.

Channel Three's Laurie Bernstein is live from the scene now with more.

Three men who live in this neighborhood tried to come to the rescue of Meers, dragging him out of the burning trailer onto the porch.

Once firefighters arrived, they were told to get out of the way, and they followed orders.

But after seeing Meers die right before their eyes, they wish they hadn't.

"It was horrific, worst display of help I've ever seen."

Justice Williams wants answers.

As someone who risked his life to help his neighbor, he cannot accept that Escambia County firefighters did everything they could to save James Meers.

"These are the people we turn our lives to, for our health and safety and today, the system failed horribly."

When firefighters arrived at the scene, Williams says he thought they would finish the job he started.

But it's a decision he now regrets.

"They stood by and watched as that man burned, when it would have took but seconds to get him away."

Witnesses say one firefighter did attempt to help Meers at first, but for some reason stopped and retreated.

The answer we got from the fire chief...

"As he was trying to move the patient off the porch, he was causing further injury to the patient. The firefighter made every effort to get Meers off porch, into safer area, until it got so bad that the firefighter couldn't be there."

But Robert Brown says that story doesn't match up with what he saw.

"Guy was still alive, laying there. I mean, I thought they would have still put effort in, drug him off the porch, even if they suffered a few burns, but he just laid there and burned alive, in front of everyone who lives here."

And for those that tried to help, Meers's death weighs heavy on their conscience.

"I wish they said 'get out the way,' I would have said, 'no, you get out the way.'"

The state fire marshal's office is still investigating the cause of the fire.

We are told Escambia Sheriff's deputies dropped Meers off an hour before the blaze broke out, because he was unable to drive home on his own from a local bar.

Pee Wee, as he was known to family and friends, leaves behind five young children.

Reporting live in Brownsville, Laurie Bernstein, Channel Three News.Neighbors Unable to Save House Fire Victim