Altoona man is a ‘hero’ after pulling his neighbor from her burning home

By TODD MAGEL

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    ALTOONA, Iowa (KCCI) — An Altoona man is being called a hero.

He saved the life of his next-door neighbor in a fire that killed her husband.

“I told her to grab onto me and I just pulled her out,” Tyler Warner said.

Warner was camping in his backyard with his family when they noticed smoke coming from his next-door neighbor’s house. He told his wife to call 9-1-1.

“That’s how they do it in CPR. You get someone to call 9-1-1. Then you help them,” Warner said.

And then he sprang into action.

“I just seen all the smoke coming out. I knew there was going to be no way to go through the house. Also, I just did what I needed to do. I just pulled her out,” Warner said.

Warner identified his neighbors as James and Ruth Norton. He pulled Ruth out after seeing her climbing through her backyard window. That’s when the fire dept arrived. Fire Chief Jared Ogbourne said there was thick black smoke from floor to ceiling. By the time they found Ruth’s husband James, it was too late. He didn’t make it.

“He was a great guy. He was a great neighbor,” Warner said.

Investigators say the fire likely started in the basement. There’s not much damage visible from the street.

Chief Ogbourne calls Warner a hero. Warner said he just did what he had to do.

“It’s probably not an everyday thing. But you always know that your neighbors got your back just like you got theirs,” Warner said.

The fire chief said it will take a while to determine how James Norton died and what caused the fire.

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