Neighbors Help Rescue Family From Fire

Spanish Fort Fire The blaze tore through a Spanish Fort home Sunday June 14th 2009.

by Chad Petri

Published: Sun, June 14, 2009 - 9:12 pm CST Last Updated: Sun, June 14, 2009 - 9:17 pm CST

Thick smoke chokes the Stillwater subdivision off highway 225. While some watch, others are called to action.

“Instinct kicked in and I felt I had to help somebody,” says Dylan Sheridan. He lives in the neighborhood and saw the smoke as he passed by the home Sunday evening.

“At first I thought they were just having a bonfire in the back of the yard but when I came closer I saw that the fence was on fire,” says Dylan. That’s when Dylan says he, and another neighbor, rushed into the burning house to make sure the people inside got out safely. Dylan says he wasn’t done there.

“I grabbed [the homeowner’s] purse and saw the car keys so I went and I got her car out of the way of the danger,” says Dylan. He says he went into the home a third time after the family dog ran back inside. Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief, and Dylan’s dad, William Sheridan says the fire started when someone accidentally put still-hot coals from a smoker into a garbage can at the rear of the home.

“Fire spread up the wall and into the attic area through the outside vinyl vents and it appears to be a total loss of the home,” says William. He says there's an estimated $500,000 worth of damage. Fire officials say no injuries were reported. Fire crews from Spanish Fort, Crossroads, and Whitehouse Fork all helped put out the house fire. Officials say they were also joined by an off duty Mobile firefighter who was nearby.

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