INDIANAPOLIS — A 19-year-old man's quick actions saved a neighbor's life on the east side of Indianapolis Tuesday.
“It was like a tornado. It was like a tornado of flames,” said Andrew Nelson, describing what he saw when he looked across the street Tuesday afternoon after he heard what sounded like popping sounds outside.
What Nelson was witnessing was the house across the street going up in flames on Regis Court in Warren Township.
“It probably took five to ten minutes for the whole garage to disappear. It was gone fast,” he said.
Instead of staying as far away from the burning home as possible, Nelson ran right for it, while calling 911.
“My first instinct was to help,” the 19-year-old explained. “(The 911 operator) asked me, 'Is somebody in there?' and I’m like, ‘I’m not sure,’”
Nelson said he knew the family who lived in the home has children. So with the fire quickly growing, he said he did the only thing he could do at that point, he started knocking and yelling and didn’t stop until he heard someone come near the door.
“I was like, ‘Hey! The house is on fire!’ I’m like, ‘You need to get out!’ I’m like, ‘If you got anything, grab it and get out!’” Nelson said he shouted to whoever was on the other side of the door.
That turned out to be a man who fire officials said was inside asleep when Nelson alerted him to the fire. Nelson said the man got out with two dogs.
“He actually came up to me and told me he was asleep and me knocking on the door actually woke him up to get him out of there,” Nelson recalled.
Others who live in the home, including the children Nelson had seen before, weren’t home at the time of the fire.
Tuesday night, the realization of his actions was just sinking in for Nelson, who said he woke up that morning expecting it to be like any other day, never realizing that within hours he’d be the reason another man was alive.
“I’m just glad everybody was safe,” Nelson said.
According to the Indianapolis Fire Department, the American Red Cross is helping the family. IFD tweeted pictures and video of the destroyed home, saying the cause of the fire was electrical.