Good Samaritan rescues man from burning home in Boone County
A family is without a home after a tragic fire in Ashland, but ABC 17 News has learned the situation was almost much more devastating.
A Good Samaritan rescued one of the residents from the burning home Sunday morning. ABC 17 News spoke to local Ashland hero John Allen on the phone.
“The house was on fire…Somebody was trying to get out the door and so me and my dad grabbed him by the arms and pulled him out into the front yard,” Allen says, adding, “I wasn’t concerned about me, my dad, anybody else just the guy that was inside.”
Allen says the man is disabled and wasn’t able to get out on his own, which made the emergency situation even more dire.
“There was nothing we could do about the fire. All we could do is see if we could get anyone out of the house,” he recalls.
Fire officials say only one person was home at the time. The man’s wife was apparently at work when the fire began. Neighbors say it’s thanks to the Good Samaritan that there is no loss of human life.
With regards to the investigation, fire officials say the cause is undetermined.
“The Fire Marshall has pretty much concluded his investigation and at this point it’s undetermined,” Barrett Glascock, Public Information Officer for the Southern Boone County Fire Protection District tells ABC 17 News. “They’re not sure what started it or actually where it started but it was all in one area either one side of the garage or one side of the house or in between the two.”
Glascock says it took crews about 20 minutes to put out the fire, and they were assisted by a number of volunteers.
“We had some good volunteers show up. We had about 23 volunteers show up and on a Sunday morning that was very good,” he says.
While there is no exact dollar amount for the damage, Glascock says the home is likely a total loss. However, he is confident the Ashland community will rally around the family.
“I’m sure there’s some decent people around here that’ll do some charity work and maybe raise some funds for them,” he says.
Right now, the Red Cross is assisting the family with food, shelter and clothing. Allen, meanwhile, says if he had to do it over again, he would do the exact same thing.
