Newark , New Jersey ( CNN ) -- To the family of Zina Hodge , the man who dashed into their burning home and pulled their loved one to safety through intense heat , falling embers and dense smoke could just be Superman . But Newark Mayor Cory Booker most definitely did not feel like the Man of Steel on Friday as he recovered from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns suffered during the rescue of his 47-year-old neighbor the previous night . `` I did not feel too heroic , '' Booker told reporters . `` It all happened very , very quickly and I just feel very blessed that she and I got out of the building alive . '' Booker , 42 , has fostered a reputation as a hands-on mayor of sorts , once spotted shoveling city streets during a 2010 blizzard and using his Twitter feed to coordinate snow plows and the delivery of supplies . His latest feat for his constituents went viral Friday as news of the rescue spread and social media users quickly dubbed him `` Super Mayor . '' A new Tumblr blog named SuperCoryBooker was thrown together Friday with tongue-in-cheek memes about the mayor 's knack for getting things done . `` Just another day , saving Newark , '' read one . For his part , Booker was quick to cast off the `` superhero '' title . `` I think that 's way over the top , '' he said outside his home . `` There are people who do this every day , '' referring to police officers , firefighters and other first-responders . `` I 'm a neighbor that did what most neighbors would do , which is to jump into action to help a friend , '' Booker said . The incident began around 9:30 p.m. Thursday as Booker was en route to his Newark residence . Two members of his security detail -- already waiting outside for the mayor -- noticed flames coming out of a second-story window of the neighbor 's home and called fire dispatch before banging on the door to alert the home 's occupants . The security officers , Detectives Alex Rodriguez and Santos Duran , managed to rescue three people by the time Booker arrived . `` As the last one was coming out , I was going up the stairs and she 's screaming that her daughter is still in the building , '' Booker recalled . Flanked by the two detectives , Booker rushed toward the building , he said . `` Something exploded and sent a lot of flames over the steps , and my detail just grabbed me and started trying to drag me out of there , '' he said . Booker exchanged heated words with Rodriguez , who was pulling him by the belt to get him to safety . `` Look , this woman is going to die if we do n't continue , '' Booker recalled saying . The detective relented and let him continue on . Once inside , Booker had what he described as his `` proverbial come-to-Jesus moment '' as he felt the intensity of the heat and had trouble finding Hodge . `` The reality is I did n't feel any courage . I felt fear , '' he said . `` I 've never been so almost convinced that this was it . It was time to hope that I was going up and not down . '' But just as he was `` praying , thinking , hoping , '' Hodge called out and Booker found her in a back room . Hoisting her , Booker ran through the flames , embers falling from the ceiling , and made his way outside before collapsing onto the sidewalk . `` Her mother gave me a hug I 'll never forget for getting her out , '' he said . `` At that point , I felt this sense of gratitude . To go moments from thinking you 're dead to kissing the Newark pavement ... I felt like I was delivered from the fires of hell . '' Thursday 's rescue marked Booker 's latest foray into the media spotlight . The mayor has enjoyed a steady rise in national prominence as an outspoken advocate for urban issues since taking office in 2006 . His efforts to turn around a city long struggling with high crime , chronic poverty and a restrictive budget are chronicled on the Sundance Channel 's series `` Brick City . '' His reputation also contrasts with that of several previous Newark mayors , a few of whom were convicted on corruption-related charges . Hodge is being treated at Barnabas Hospital in Livingston , New Jersey , where she is in serious condition , officials said . Newark Fire Director Fateen Ziyad said the three other residents who were removed from the home `` are doing well . '' `` It 's like one in a million , the mayor to get your family out , '' said Robert Cooper , 20 , who is Hodge 's nephew . Still , Booker said his two detectives were `` the real heroes '' and sought to give Rodriguez and Duran most of the credit . As for his own super powers , Booker said the whole incident `` unfolded in a way that I think that angels helped to make it so . '' CNN 's Marina Landis and Mark Norman contributed to this report .
Cory Booker is quickly dubbed ` ` Super Mayor '' as part of his heroic rescue spreads . He insists he was not heroic but did ` ` what most people would do '' ` ` I feel like I was rescued from the fires of hell , '' Booker says . Mayor Hodge , however , is in serious condition .