An Iowa man is being hailed as a hero for helping save four siblings from their burning home when he accidentally came upon it after making a wrong turn.
Brendon Birt sprang into action and began shouting when he discovered the Red Oak, Iowa, home of Tender Lehman ablaze, according to ABC affiliate KETV.
Lehman was out of town in Montana for a family emergency at the time, but her three children and their 22-year-old brother were asleep inside the house as flames began to consume the structure and the smoke detectors failed to go off.
Birt pounded on the windows and sides of the house in an attempt to alert those inside.
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The incident was captured on the family’s Ring doorbell video, which depicts the Lehman children escaping as their home becomes an inferno.
“Like every second that was going by was just getting worse,” Birt said.
“I just felt like somebody was in there because it was so late at night, you know? I just knew that I had to act quick,” Birt said.
Awakened by Birt’s banging and shouting, the four siblings managed to escape. The Ring video shows the moment the three younger siblings bust through the front door, who were later followed by the older one.
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“They came out the door,” said Birt. “Like, I just felt like, I just wanted to break down and cry. Like, I don’t even know these people here.”
When she met the man who saved her children, Tender Lehman expressed gratitude.
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“I’m so incredibly grateful, [for sure],” she said. “My kids wouldn’t have made it, man.”
“They’re safe, and they’re safe because of him,” said Lehman. “I mean, lives were saved here. Souls.”
The house is a total loss and five of the family’s seven dogs perished in the blaze.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to the Red Oak Fire Department.
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