Three men are being called heros after rescuing three people from a house fire Monday afternoon.
A man and wife driving past the home in the 3100 block of North Pearl Street about 4 p.m. noticed fire shooting through the windows on the front porch.
Steve Dombroski kicked some oxygen tanks off the front porch and found the front door locked.
"(I) kicked the front door four times ... the door opened, the fire just took off," Dombroski said.
But Dombroski didn't give up. He went around back and met another man, who had already entered the house. That man handed Dombroski a 4-year-old boy and he gave an elderly woman to another man, Melvin Bryant.
A 46-year-old woman was also rescued from the house.
Bryant said he just did what his conscience told him to do.
"I wouldn't consider myself a hero," Bryant said. "It was just God."
The elderly woman was taken to Baptist Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation and is expected to be OK. The woman and her Godson were treated at the scene.
Gregory Moore, who rents the home for his family, credits the three complete strangers with saving his wife and Godson.
"I just thank God they were concerned enough to stop, instead of just riding by," Moore said.
Firefighters believe the fire was caused by a space heater.
"I'm sure you can imagine that had these individuals not arrived in the timely fashion that they did, the situation would have been much, much worse," Jacksonville Fire-Rescue spokesman Tom Frances said.
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
