When Austin Hill, 25, of Herculaneum learned one of his neighbor’s was inside a burning home, he ran into the house and led the 63-year-old woman through heavy smoke to safety, said Mike McClain, assistant chief of the Dunklin Fire Protection District.
The fire district got a call at 2:22 p.m. July 16 about the fire at the home in the 1300 block of Farnman Drive, which was significantly damaged in the blaze.
By the time firefighters arrived, Hill had gotten the woman out of the house, McClain said.
Hill said a girl told him her grandmother was inside the burning house.
“I was sitting in my garage and a neighbor girl – she’s about 13 – ran over to tell me what was happening,” Hill said. “I ran over to the front door. It was open. There was smoke. I went in and as I got closer to the living room, I heard screaming. But, there was too much smoke. I couldn’t get through.”
He went to the back of the house.
“Luckily, the back door was unlocked,” Hill said. “I entered through the basement. The grandma was the only one in there. When I found her, she was holding a dog and kind of spinning in a circle. I yelled at her to come with me and led her out of the house.”
The woman was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with smoke inhalation. An ambulance also was called to check out Hill, but he was not transported to a hospital, McClain said.
Hill said he had no qualms about going into a burning building.
“To be honest, the only hesitation I had was being a Black man going into a neighbor’s home,” he said.
McClain praised Hill for helping the woman.
“You risked your life,” he told Hill. “In the district, we give you all the credit because it’s not something everybody would do.”
Andrea Nilson said the woman Hill rescued was her mother, Debra Vitale, and she is doing better now.
Nilson said she appreciates Hill’s actions on her mother’s behalf.
“There really aren’t words to describe how grateful we are,” she said. “He risked his life to go into a house and save a neighbor.”
Hill said he has enjoyed the attention he has received for helping the woman.
“It feels amazing to be recognized for something good,” he said.
As of Tuesday, the cause of the fire had not been determined but is not considered suspicious, McClain said.