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A heroic action saved a Lancaster Township family Friday November 26.
John Rios, of Lancaster, hustled a woman and four children safely out of a burning home on Bean Hill Road shortly before 3 a.m.
Rios was at the home of a female friend at 715 Bean Hill Road when he heard a crackling noise above him at about 2:40.
"I thought it was a mouse or maybe a raccoon on the roof. Then I saw
a red glow and flames around the ceiling and a central air conditioning
unit.''
Rios tried to use the phone, but the line was dead.
Rios awakened the woman, identified by firefighters as Ilia Burgos,
and told here "to get out of here.'' Then he aroused the woman's four
sleeping children, ranging in age from 5 to 12, brought them out of the
home, and placed them in his van. After that, he raced back inside the
home to get clothing for the shivering youngsters.
"I grabbed as much as I could,'' he said.
One of the children ran across the street to a neighbor's home, and had the neighbor call 911, firefighters said.
"It's good he was there,'' a Lancaster Township firefighter said of
Rios. "Otherwise, the ceiling would have fallen on top of them.''
About 30 firefighters from Lancaster Township, West Lancaster and
Millersville fought the fire, which started in old electrical wiring,
said Lancaster Township Fire Chief Glenn Usdin.
Most of the fire damage was inside the home, which was a
bungalow-style dwelling that had been expanded in the back. The blaze
came down from the attic and damaged interior rooms in the back section.
Firefighters had the blaze out in about 15 minutes. Usdin estimated fire damage at about $15,000.
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