Kevin Dean and his wife P.J. Hamilton of St. Simons Island are lucky to have James Allen as a neighbor. Without Allen, the couple might not be alive today.
Just before 11 p.m. Monday, Dean and Hamilton were asleep in their bedroom as a fire engulfed the front of their home at 515 Seabreeze Drive.
Allen, who lives next door at 1056 Sherman Ave., which intersects Seabreeze Drive, was the first one to notice it.
"I ordered a pizza sometime after 10 o'clock, and I got up to go to my room. I could see the big orange blaze from behind my window curtain," Allen said Wednesday. "Once you've seen that orange glow, you know it."
Without any firefighter training, 28-year-old Allen sprang into action.
Running outside, he grabbed a garden hose and started spraying the fire and the area around it with water in an attempt to keep the fire from spreading to other houses, he said. After waking another neighbor to alert them and have them call 911, Allen took his 5-year-old child away to safety. That's when he realized that Dean and Hamilton could be in danger.
"I saw they weren't out here, and I saw the car. I thought they must be inside," Allen said. "I ran around the back and started banging on the door. I kept banging and banging and got no answer, so I just stepped back and kicked the door in."
Dean, who said he is usually a light sleeper, fears what would have happened if Allen hadn't burst in.
"I am one of the lightest sleepers in the world. I have terrible insomnia, but I didn't hear a thing. And even after my wife woke me up, I was very disoriented. The dogs were going nuts, but there was no smoke in the house. There was no indication there was a fire."
The fire, which had consumed about half of the single-story, wood-framed house at that time, had also likely sucked all the oxygen out of the house, which was well sealed for winter, Dean said.
"He really probably saved our lives. We were dead asleep," Dean said.
Dean had only enough time to pull on pants and run out of the house, he said. Within seconds after exiting, the house was filled with fire.
Glynn County firefighters responded after Dean and Hamilton were out of the home, and Dean said he and his wife were thankful the firefighters were able to save their dog, which had been hiding under their bed.
"The fire department really deserves a pat on the back. We are so glad they were here. One of them ran back in and got our dog," Dean said.
Allen said Wednesday he was concerned about how long it took the fire department to respond.
"We called them and it took about 25 minutes for them to get here," Allen said. "It was a pretty long time."
Glynn County Fire Chief Al Thomas said a report on the fire had not been filed yet, and he did not have any immediate information on the response time.
David O'Neal, director of the Glynn-Brunswick 911 Center, said Wednesday that dispatch was called at 11:12 p.m. Monday and Fire Engine 4 arrived at 11:19 p.m.
Through the ordeal, Dean said he and his wife are happy to be alive, and his eyes are opened to what good neighbors he has.
"I'm flabbergasted by the sweetness and the goodness of the neighborhood and the fire department -- everybody involved," Dean said.
While the fire department has not determined what caused the fire, Allen and others have speculated that it was caused by an ember blown from an outdoor fireplace.
Copyright 2012 - The Brunswick News, Ga.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
