A New Hampshire woman was saved by her neighbors when her trailer home caught on fire.
The massive three-alarm fire occurred at 8:01 p.m. on Friday, April 18, on Eastern Avenue in Amherst, N.H. A barn next to the home was also destroyed, per ABC WMUR 9.
It took firefighters about an hour to control the flames, but they also faced brush fire conditions due to the wind, per Patch.com. Amherst Public Works later brought an excavator to the scene to clear the debris and fully extinguish the fire.
Two neighbors immediately called the Amherst Fire Department, but upon seeing the severity of the scene, they took rescue operations into their own hands.
Artem Kozlov, who has lived in the area for several months, was outside cleaning his dog’s paws after a walk when he saw the blaze ignite, per WMUR. Kozlov ran to get his friend Tom Hansis, who has lived across the street from the trailer home for 30 years.
The woman was unaware that her home was on fire when the two men entered the home to rescue her. They were able to get her to safety outdoors. “I told (Artem), ‘We’ve got three minutes to get her out of here,’ ” Hansis told WMUR, “‘So, let’s go.’ ”
The woman had two cats, whom Kozlov and Hansis attempted to rescue, but they died at the scene. They were able to recover the pets’ bodies for a proper burial.
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“If that ever happened to my wife? I mean, I would hope somebody did the same thing,”
Hansis told the station.
Koslov reflected on the bond between neighbors in his new neighborhood.
“These people are amazing over here,” he told WMUR. “I’ve lived in the United States just for three years, and these people are amazing.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Amherst Fire Department told WMUR.
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