Moment teens returning home from junior prom help rescue family from raging house fire
A group of New York teens left their homes on May 17 dressed up and ready for their junior prom. By the time they returned home, they had potentially saved three lives.
Aiden Kane and his girlfriend, Morgan Randall, were returning home after prom with their friends Donato Jellenich and Tyler Sojda. The teens saw an orange glow, which they initially assumed were other Oneida County kids celebrating their prom nights with a bonfire.
Once they got closer, they realized the glow wasn't a bonfire, but a raging blaze consuming a garage.
'We got a few appetizers with our friends before heading to Donato's house to get changed out of our prom clothes,' Kane told the Utica Observer-Dispatch. 'And on the way, Morgan saw [the garage] burning. None of us would have seen it if it weren't for her.'
One of the teens, Jellenich, immediately called 911 for help while Kane, who was capturing the incident on his cellphone, went to warn the home's occupants of the impending danger.
'Everyone jumped out of the car,' Kane said. 'Donato immediately called 911, Tyler ran towards the garage to check it out and I ran up to the door and started pounding on it.'
Kane can be seen in the video rushing up to the house and knocking frantically on the door. He calls inside, warning the residents — a father and his two daughters — that their house is on fire.
"You guys got to get out!" he says in the video.
The girls sound distressed in the background, but after they're safely escorted out of their home one can be heard saying "thank you." Kane assured the girls that they were safe and instructed them to hide behind their family's vehicle until help arrived. Morgan helped to comfort the family once everyone had gotten to safety.
No one was injured in the fire.
Maynard Fire Department Chief Jared Pearl commended the teens for taking the time to care about the family. He said Kane warning the residents about the fire likely bought them precious time to escape.
'The family was safely evacuated before flames could reach the main structure of the home,' Pearl said in a statement. 'Thanks to Aiden's leadership and the team's quick response, a potential tragedy was averted.'
The teens told NBC News that they were only out at the time because they were waiting to get permission to go to a friends' house after prom. Had they gotten permission earlier, they never would have seen the fire.
"We were there [at] the right time," Randall said.
Kane told the broadcaster that his father worked for police and EMS in the past, and being out on calls with him helped in that moment.
"I've been on several calls with him because he was the chief of EMS and sometimes when I'm with him you just have to go [respond to an emergency], there's nothing you can do," he said. "So like, seeing him doing it kind of inspired me to help out the family."
The father and daughters are in good health. Fire investigators are still working to determine the origin of the blaze.
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