EXETER TOWNSHIP, Pa. – When Simeon Miravich went out to get something from his truck early Sunday morning and saw his neighbor’s house on fire, instinct kicked in.
“I ran over as quick[ly] as I could and called 9-1-1,” said Miravich.
There wasn’t much time to act.
“When I ran over, first started knocking on the trailer door. Thankfully they got out pretty quick,” Miravich explained.
“Then started knocking on the main house door to get the mom up. [That] took a little bit for her to get up. I was trying to kick in the door but thankfully, after 20 or 30 seconds or so, she came out pretty quick,” he said.
Firefighters arrived on scene in the 100 block of Old Friedensburg Road in Exeter Township shortly thereafter.
“All happened so quick, like from the time I saw the fire at the garage it didn’t seem like it spread that far. Maybe only 5-6 feet. But within 6 minutes, the whole garage was gone,” said Miravich.
“Then, probably within 30-40 minutes, the whole fire had spread across the whole roof and the roof was pretty close to collapsing at that point,” he added.
According to Exeter Fire Chief Chris Jordan, conditions were extreme with dangerously low temperatures and wind chills below zero that night.
Firefighters battled the fire for four hours covered in water that froze, creating an ice glaze on members and equipment.
Miravich says they’re the heroes.
As for his actions, he says he was simply being a good neighbor.
“Just doing what I think anybody should do in this circumstance,” said Miravich. “I’d hope if one of my neighbors saw the same thing, they’d be running over too.”