Man Alerts 3 Children That Home Is On Fire

A man going door-to-door offering free home energy inspections potentially saved the lives of three children who were unaware that their home was on fire Thursday afternoon.

“I just happened to be in the neighborhood,” said Chris Owen, of Gettysburg, PA. “I was actually supposed to be on a different street offering free home inspections and energy analysis for people’s homes and I looked down the street and I smelled smoke.”

Watch Owen's  cell phone video of the fire by clicking on the video to the right.

Owen, 40, said he was about two houses down from the fire in the 300 block of Quaker Ridge Road in Timonium.

“I ran around back to see if there was a grill, maybe they were burning some trash and I saw that the back porch was on fire. That’s when I ran around front, beat on the front door and shortly after that three kids came running out and I was on the phone with the fire department.”

At 3:53 p.m. he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

“It’s now 4:30 and the house is done,” Owen said as he stood on the sidewalk outside of the charred shell of a home. Fire engines and emergency responders lined the street as rescue crews surveyed the inside of the home and roof.

The exact cause of the fire is unconfirmed, however Owen said he distinctly heard an explosion—possibly a grilling accident, he said. Firefighters at the scene could not confirm the exact cause.

“I’m a Christian. I’m a believer. I just believe that it was meant to be," Owen said. "There was nobody here. There was nobody here to knock on that door. I just believe that I was supposed to be here."