A hero emerged to save a man and his pets from a burning house fire with seconds to spare. It was all caught on cell phone video after flames broke out at 4:30 p.m. on Monday in Chesterfield Township.
Owen Tisler, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout, was driving down Anchor Drive near 21 Mile Rd. and Jefferson as it happened.
“I was about two houses down and I stopped my car, just watching all this smoke coming off. First thing I do is I called my dad, I said I think this house is on fire. What should I do? He told me to run to the door, bang on the door. Make sure no one is in there and call 911.” Owen said.
Seconds later, he said, “some guy comes out and started yelling at me for banging on his door. I was like, 'your house is on fire.' He told me he was the only one in there, but I didn’t know about the cats or anything until after.”
Reluctant to call himself a hero, Owen is relieved everyone got out safely.
“There were seven cats & one pet pig. I’m just surprised how quickly everything happened. Before firefighters even got there you could see flames as tall as the house.” Owen said.
His father tells us the ordeal played out the way it did, in part due to Owen’s experience.
“His scouting. He’s an Eagle Scout. I’ve already told him he’s learned a lot from this. He knows how to handle pressure a little bit," his dad said.
Looking back, Owen is thankful he didn’t dismiss what seemed less serious at first.
“At first I thought it was a bonfire, but as I got closer & closer, I saw smoke pass over the house and was like this is not a bonfire.” says Owen.
So far, we’ve been unable to reach the homeowner. Firefighters are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
