Neighbor rescues grandma stuck in burning Putnam County house

A grandmother was rescued from a burning home Tuesday by a neighbor who braved the flames to pull her to safety. Firefighters spent hours combating the flames at a house on Peggy Lane in Crescent City.

With only minutes to react, neighbors knew they had to help the woman stuck in the home during the fire. Teresa Bruce and her husband William knew something was wrong when they heard young kids screaming.

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“I saw those grandkids out here in their underwear, you know running around, and at that point, I was just scared to death for the family over here,” William Bruce said.

Bruce said he knew he had to act fast after his wife asked the children why they wanted to go back inside.

“They kept trying to back into the front door, but it was gone. There was nothing left of the front door. I’m screaming at them, 'Where is your granny? Where is your granny?' And they say, 'She’s still inside.' That’s when he (William Bruce) jumped in,” Teresa Bruce said.

After knocking down a fence to get to her, William Bruce said, “I was going to throw a chair through the window. But as I started to throw the chair, she fell out of the screen door.”

He helped her get to safety while his wife, Teresa, focused on keeping the children safe. As the flames continue to roar, neighbors took cell phone video and in it you can hear exploding noises.

“They have nothing. Nothing. All of their vehicles are burning up over there in that yard,” Teresa Bruce said.

When firefighters arrived, crews said the fire was spreading so quickly they had to attack it from the outside for fear it would collapse on them if they went inside.

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Firefighters spent hours trying to put out all the smoldering spots, but they say this was a challenging blaze.

“There is not a whole lot of water availability around here. As you go down the different roads, there are canals and stuff, but nothing we could get a fire truck close enough to draft water out of, ” Anthony Gedris, county fire marshal, said.

As of now, the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The American Red Cross is assisting the family.

Neighbors are also pulling their resources together to donate money and necessities to this family who lost everything.

Cox Media Group