PORTLAND -- Greg Sherwood lives across the street from 6438 SW Burlingame Place, the residence that slid 300 feet down a hill early Wednesday morning before crashing into two other homes.

Sherwood spoke with KGW this morning in the aftermath of the land and home slide.

He says he woke up and thought he heard his neighbor taking out the trash, which struck him as odd.

“It sounded like the garbage was going out, sliding across the street. Then I realized it was a lot more than that. I looked out the window -- we live right across the street from them -- and I saw the house, it just started to fall over backwards,” Sherwood said.

He then called 9-1-1, threw on some clothes and ran outside to see how he could help.

“By then the house had slid down maybe 40 or 50 feet and was lying on its back. I knew Kathy (the home's resident). By then the neighbor next to her, they were out of the house and he and I grabbed a ladder,” Sherwood said.

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Emergency teams had not yet arrived on the scene, so he and his neighbor decided to attempt and rescue Kathy.

“We laid on the edge of the earth next to the house. (Kathy) was on top of the house but it was giving way. She crawled off it and we were able to get the ladder down to her and pull her up out of the hole there. Then, a couple of minutes later, the whole house gave way down the hill,” Sherwood said.

He then clarified that Kathy was actually on the side of the house, but looked as if she were on top of it, since it had fallen over on its side.

Sherwood was able to speak with Kathy shortly after the house gave way and slid to its destruction.

"She said she heard some creaks and groans in the house and was able to come out front, but, of course, the whole hillside gave way so she wasn't even able to make it to the street,” he said. “(Kathy) was just scrambling to stay on top of the house ... as we were able to get the ladder down to her. It was just a completely muddy mess. Water was running; the main was running over the edge of the well.”

Sherwood says that Kathy lived in the house with her husband, Dave, who was apparently out of town.

“Thank God no one else was in there,” he said.

He went on to say Kathy was “muddy and shaken,” but not hurt.

 Blog: What caused the slide?

 Map: Google map of slide location