‘She was fading fast’: Man shares story of VB fire rescue
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The man who ran into a burning home to save an 84-year-old woman is sharing his story.
That man, now considered a hero and Good Samaritan by his community, was a total stranger to the family that Saturday morning.
Family credits stranger for saving woman from a fire
Shane Simmons was driving nearby when he saw the smoke from far away.
“I see the black smoke, and I know the black smoke is not from a fireplace,” Simmons said.
His mom lives in the same neighborhood. When he got there, he quickly found out that the fire was at a different house. Still, he went over to see what was going on.
“When I approach the house, I see a man in the front yard who’s frantic,” Simmons said. “I’m like, ‘Are you OK, is there anybody in the house?’ And he says, ‘It’s my mom, but I don’t think we can get to her, I don’t think we can make it, it’s just too thick.'”
As Simmons remembers that morning, this is when he made a run for the garage.
“I’m calling for her, asking where she is,” Simmons said. “He’s calling, ‘Help me,’ and as I go in, I have to come back out to get air each time, and I do this a total of six, seven times, going deeper each, and each time. Her voice and her calls for help are getting labored and less frequent.”
The smoke was so thick, his cell phone flashlight could not cut through the darkness. He would soon begin to recognize the house layout, since it is similar to the home where he grew up just down the street. Giving up on the garage route, he went around the back to smash out a window.
“Some other neighbors showed up, and this one lady, there was a shard of glass in the door — she kind of kicked it out of my way for me,” Simmons said. “And at that moment, I saw a pocket of air at the floor. And at the point, I crawled on my belly. Got to her, she was fading fast, she was non-responsive to me.
“And I just said we have to go, and I grabbed her wrists, and I drug her out to the back and there was other neighbors helping me move her to the lawn.”
This is around when firefighters showed up. They quickly got to work spraying down the fire, bringing the woman and Simmons to the hospital. The family is thankful for his quick actions — a stranger at the right place at the right time.
“It was like an out of body experience,” he said. “It was like my body was just doing what it needed to do to get to her, to get her out.”
The 84-year-old woman is still in the hospital as of Tuesday. Her family said her recovery is progressing smoothly and believe she will survive.
As of this story, the Virginia Beach Fire Department did not have an update on the fire investigation. It is still not known where or how it started.
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