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Fox News
5 days ago
- General
- Fox News
From prom night to heroic rescue: High school students save family from raging fire
A group of high school students jumped into action in upstate New York to help a family escape a fast-moving fire. Donato Jellenich, Tyler Sojda, Aiden Kane and Morgan Randall were driving home from their prom when they spotted flames in the distance. They said at first, the group didn't think much of the fire, until they passed by a second time and noticed it was an entire garage burning. "We turned the car around and went over there, and it was just crazy," Kane told "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday. A now-viral video shows the 17-year-old running up to the front door of the home and shouting, "Your house is on fire!" The footage captures the teens' efforts to warn a father and his two young daughters before the blaze could spread to the main home. "It was just a really big fire. Like, you could tell it was spreading quickly, and we just all wanted to help the best we could," Sojda said. Sojda recalled how the group worked together in the emergency with one calling 911, another checking the burning garage, and a third making sure the family inside knew what was happening. "You see in the video, Aiden was banging on the front door and I cleared the garage, and then as I ran back to the front yard, he came out with the two little girls, and we got them to safety," Sojda said. Video from the teens shows the family hurrying out of the house, with Kane reassuring the children and urging them to stay behind a car for safety. Sojda said he and Randall comforted the frightened children while Kane returned to the house to tell the father to leave the home. Jellenich said the group doesn't see themselves as heroes, but knows their actions made a difference. "It's a pretty cool feeling to be able to be the ones that stopped the house from catching fire. I wouldn't say that we fully saved them, but we definitely did a part in preventing them catching in flames," he said. Local fire officials agree. Maynard Fire Chief Jared Pearl told the New York Post the teens' quick thinking may have saved the family's lives and the home itself. "If they didn't do this, if they didn't get everyone out and call 911, it may have been three to four minutes before we got there," he said. "And by then, the house would have been fully involved." Kane said he felt prepared for the moment. His father, who has worked as a police and EMS chief, had taught him what to do in emergencies. "He said that he was definitely proud, and I'm following in his footsteps," said Kane, who intends to become a state trooper after graduating.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
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.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
High schoolers returning from prom hailed as heroes for helping save family from fire
A group of New York teenagers returning home from junior prom are being hailed as heroes for helping get a father and his two daughters to safety upon noticing the family's garage was on fire. 'Your house is on fire! Your house is on fire,' Aiden Kane, 17, is heard in cellphone video yelling to alert the occupants of the house in Marcy — a town of around 8,700 — on May 17. Kane, his girlfriend, Morgan Randall, and their friends Donato Jellenich and Tyler Sojda were driving back from the junior prom at Whitesboro High School when they saw the garage engulfed in flames. Kane said the orange glow looked like a bonfire, which they thought would not be unusual on prom night in Marcy, which is in Oneida County north of Utica. But upon getting closer, they realized what was happening. The cellphone video shows Kane telling the dad and his two girls, "You guys got to get out!" and, once outside, telling one of the shaken children, "You're OK," and to stand behind a car. Jared A. Pearl, chief of the Maynard Fire Department, one of several agencies that responded, said that Kane alerted the family, which allowed them to get to safety, and that he asked whether any pets were inside; Jellenich called 911; and Randall stayed with the family and helped with their children. No one was hurt in the fire, Pearl said. '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.' Sojda said their comforting the children touched close to home because he has a little brother. Randall said, 'We were there on the right time.' Kane, a junior, said that his father has worked for police and EMS and that he has been on calls with his dad because emergencies have happened while they were together. 'Seeing him doing it kind of inspired me to help out the family,' he said. This article was originally published on
