Damontae Summers and his friend Michael Greenfield were playing after school when they saw a neighbor's house on fire. They didn't hesitate to run inside to help.
The fire started just before 10 p.m. last Friday. It destroyed the home and severely damaged the two adjacent townhomes. The fire marshal said the fire was caused by a mechanical failure of an air conditioning unit and was accidental.
Seven people, including the Hynes family, are still displaced, but they will never forget the selfless actions of two young teens.
"Me and my friend Michael we ran across the street and the guy in the backyard was saying 'help my wife and kid are in the house,'" Summers told ABC2.
Summers said he found a woman and child inside the home.
"She was inside the house, with her child in her hand so I went in there and told her that she needed to come outside," he said.
Summers said he and Greenfield ran because they knew the people inside needed help.
"That's how I was raised, to help people," said Greenfield.
Summers said he wasn't even worried about the flames nearby.
"It was just first instinct to help it wasn't to just sit there and watch," he said.
Eighty firefighters took an hour to get the fire under control but these friends said it was their duty to help.
"They live in my community and I don't want to see people just burning in flames just because nobody helped them," said Summers.
Summers is part of his school's ROTC program, an honor student and athlete. He wants to be a Navy Seal all for one reason.
"When there's stuff that's going on wrong, I always want to help, I don't want to just stand back and watch."
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