The men were riding around their neighborhood Sunday evening when they noticed flames coming from the side of a house.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Five young men are being called heroes after stopping a fire from destroying their neighbor’s home and saving the owner’s dog.
The fire ignited shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday. According to the homeowners who spoke with First Coast News, they had just gone out for dinner. Meanwhile, Bryce Foster, Landon Clark, Luke Wilson, Dylan Bachmann, and Adam Commodore were traveling through their East Arlington neighborhood on a side-by-side vehicle.
“Me and the guys were just hanging out on a Sunday riding around our neighborhood and noticed a fire on the side of the house,” Bachmann said.
The fire had quickly reached the fence and was advancing towards the attic. Acting swiftly, the men rushed towards the house. Wilson and Bachmann grabbed a hose to douse the flames with water.
“Me and Landon ran around the other side, found another hose and started spraying the house down,” Foster said.
Foster said that is when they saw the owners’ dog, Charlie, trapped inside the house.
“I couldn’t leave the dog behind. I have four dogs of my own, and I’d hope someone would do the same for me if my dog was in a similar situation. So, I broke the window,” Foster explained.
They were able to get Charlie to safety and continued to hose down the flames. Foster made it into the garage and moved two cannisters full of gasoline away from the fire before pulling the owners’ car away from the home.
“I called Dylan and I’m like ‘Dylan, the car is in the garage’ and the fire was right above in the attic and so he was like bring the side-by-side over and we’ll hook up the winch and drag it out of the garage,” Foster said.
Firefighters with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department arrived on scene minutes later. A spokesperson told First Coast News these men are credited for preventing this fire from destroying the rest of the home. Their quick action stopped the fire from spreading throughout the entire attic and engulfing the roof.
The men do not consider themselves heroes. Bachmann, who owns his own landscaping and contracting company, said they were just running on instinct and wanted to help out a neighbor.
“We’re just doing our part. We’re glad to do what we could, we’re just doing our duties of the neighborhood and just being a nice guy. Nothing special,” Bachmann said.
The owners of the home told First Coast News they are feeling very blessed. Most of the damage was contained to the kitchen and garage area of the home. They said there are no words to describe how thankful they are for the five men.
