VA fire chief rescues woman at MD fire

WJLA-TV:

The fire chief in Colonial Beach, Va. is being praised after helping a family of three escape from a burning house—while he was off duty and more than 30 miles from home.

The fire happened Thursday morning on Charles Street in La Plata.

Colonial Beach Fire Chief David Robey says he was driving to Hughesville to sign papers for a Harley Davidson motorcycle his department is raffling off.

“I happened to see out of the corner of my eye a little bit of smoke and I looked over and the front porch was on fire of a house,” Robey told ABC7.

Robey says in addition to dialing 911, he banged on the walls and windows of the burning home in case anyone was inside.

Eventually, a man made his way out of one of the doors.

“He told me that his wife was in the back bedroom,” Robey said.

Robey says he tried to get to the woman by going inside the home, but it was impossible. So, he and the man went around the side of the house to the bedroom window.

“She had already opened the window,” Robey said. “She stuck her head out and I just pulled her out by the shoulder from the window.”

Members of the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department arrived and put out the fire.

The La Plata firefighters say in the future they want to honor Robey for his actions. They say not only was his help getting the family out of the home critical, but it’s also unclear how long it would have taken for anyone else to spot the fire and call it in.

They say the family was asleep when the fire started.

“I can tell you one thing, we’d be [doing] a different interview right now if Chief Robey hadn’t been there,” said La Plata Deputy Fire Chief Doug Hutchins.