SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Two people have been displaced and a dog rescued from an overnight house fire in Suffolk.
Suffolk Fire & Rescue responded to the 200 block of Berry Ridge Lane for a residential structure fire around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.
10 On Your Side spoke with the neighbor who said he was getting home around that time when he saw sparks by the side of the house. He said his first instinct was to get over there to help.
“It was scary. I’ve never been in a house fire. It felt like the movies, honestly, seeing how much smoke was inside,” said Jeremiah Saint Preux.
In the middle of the night, Saint Preux started yelling and knocking on his neighbors door to alert them about their house.
“I ended up trying to get 911, on the phone. I did the emergency button. I ran through, I was about to kick down the door,” said Saint Preux. “The woman, she came up last second as I was breaking in. I was really just trying to get people’s help.”
Afterward, he went in the house to try to find the dog, Nugget.
“My first instinct was to, like low, crawl through everything I had wetted cloth. I took my shirt off, what her sink was still working. The water was still working. The cloth covered my face up and tried my best to kind of run through the house as fast as I could to see if there was anybody else still inside,” said Saint Preux. “I believe she said that she was by herself. It was just her dog inside.”
Thankfully, Suffolk Fire and Rescue were able to get the dog out of the house, and Nugget is OK.
Nugget was cared for by Dr. Andrea Deoudes at the North Suffolk Caring Hands Animal Hospital. Nugget is recovering well and is “doing just fine.”
By the time everyone was out and safe, Saint Preux said the whole side of the house was up in flames and was spreading to the roof.
SFR said that engines arrived to find heavy fire showing from a large two-story residential structure.
Around 3 a.m. conditions inside the home became untenable for the firefighters and the Incident Commander ordered an evacuation of all interior crews. Firefighters then initiated a defensive operation to control the heavy fire that was through the roof.
Crews re-entered the structure at 3:25 a.m. to continued the firefight from the interior.
The fire was placed under control at 3:53 a.m.
One dog was rescued from the structure and received immediate emergency medical care from paramedics and firefighters. The dog was returned to its owner and is doing well.
Nobody was injured in this fire. One person was displaced and did not request assistance from the Red Cross.
Saint Preux said he was grateful he was there.
“I felt like that was a blessing in disguise. I was really blessed to be an instrument from the Lord, to actually be able to witness and save that woman.”
In a post on Facebook, SFR stated that the neighboring home was exposed by the heavy fire conditions and the neighboring home’s siding was melting and smoking. The cause of the fire and origin is under investigation.
