Nov. 29--Capt. Michael Autry thought something was amiss when he spotted light smoke wafting outside his workplace the night of Nov. 18.
When Autry stepped outside about 12:45 a.m., he knew something was wrong.
He could smell it. It was the odor of a burning house.
Autry sprang into action. He roused his fellow Fayetteville firefighters from their beds at Station 6 on Cliffdale Road before heading out to track the smell.
Autry didn't have to go far. He followed his nose to a house at the corner of Cliffdale Road and Palomar Street, just feet from the station.
"There was fire coming from one corner of the house at the roof gable and smoke was coming from all over the roof," Autry said.
He instructed his firefighters to notify 911 of a working house fire and set about to make sure the occupants were safe.
The fire was moving quickly, from the exterior and attic to the living area, Autry said.
Firefighters pounded on the doors, hoping to get someone to the door.
Inside, Eddie Zheng and his extended family were sleeping.
The house was equipped with smoke detectors, but the batteries were dead.
"We got up and beat on the doors and got someone to the door," Autry said.
From there, Autry said, firefighters helped get coats and blankets for the family and helped them outside.
"The firefighters save our lives," 33-year-old Zheng said several days later.
Zheng, who runs a restaurant in Fayetteville, lives at the home with his wife and their two children; his brother- and sister-in-law and their two children; and his mother-in-law.
"They were knocking," Zheng said. "I come outside still not recognizing that my house is on fire."
He's grateful the firefighters were close enough to see and smell the smoke and to get to their house as quickly as they did.
"In China, if you get fire, they may be coming, maybe in an hour," Zheng said.
He's been living in the United States for about 10 years, he said, and about half of them in Fayetteville.
The house escaped major damage, Autry said.
The Red Cross offered to help, but the family declined.
Autry said he was doing paperwork from an earlier fire call when he saw the smoke.
"If we hadn't have had the call, we would've been in bed," Autry said. "It was by the grace of God we happened to have a call."
Staff writer Nancy McCleary can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3568.
Copyright 2012 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
