ROCKEDGE, Fla. – A man could have died in a house fire if not for firefighters and heroic neighbors.
The fire that destroyed a house on Tiffany Place broke out Monday as the man, who because of his weight and a knee injury, couldn’t get out on his own.
Before rescuers could get there, Jayna Davis was one of five neighbors she said bravely went inside the house.
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Davis told Rockledge Community Correspondent James Sparvero the sight of the house with smoke billowing from the roof was terrifying.
“The gentleman was in bed and wasn’t able to get out, so that was quite alarming,” the neighbor said. “We were just all trying to do what we could to at least let him know that help was on the way.”
Davis said the situation could have ended much differently without neighbors responding.“Yes, had we not recognized it, just because he wasn’t able to get up on his own,” she said.Davis said the man was coherent and conscious.“He just looked scared and wanted us to get him out of there,” she said.
Neighbors believe the fire started inside the home’s shed.
It caught two other homes on fire, too.
No one was badly hurt at the other homes, either.
“I am very, very grateful,” the man’s fiancée said.
The woman, who said her name was Elizabeth, told Sparvero the man is doing well.
“That’s what we need more of,” she said about her brave neighbors. “We need more people like that.”
Davis said the experience brought neighbors closer together.
“We did all come together, and we’re just standing here and thanking the lord that everything turned out the way it did,” she said.