Neighbor saves woman from fire

‘The flames were so high, I had to jump through the fire to get to her’

SPRING CITY >> A resident on the 500 block of East Vincent Avenue survived a house fire Thursday morning and she has a heroic neighbor to thank.

Wayne Benfield, a Spring City resident and independently contracted

carrier for The Mercury and The Phoenix Reporter

& Item, woke to news that his neighbor’s house was on fire.

Benfield remembered that his neighbor had medical issues and hoped that her husband had managed to get her out. Benfield then bolted out the door and across the street to his neighbor’s home. When he arrived, his neighbor was sitting on the porch as the fire burned around the red brick home.

Benfield did not hesitate to leap into action.

“The f lames were so high, I had to jump through the fire to get to her,” Benfield said.

Benfield then carried the woman to safety as flames continued to consume the porch. Shortly after the rescue, fire crews began to arrive.

Benfield explained that his neighbor had called her husband as soon as she became aware of the fire, but he was at work, which is over an hour away. After she called her husband, she made her way toward the front porch where Benfield managed to bring her to safety. Though Benfield threw out his back in the process, his neighbor escaped virtually unharmed.

“I thought she’d been burned because when I went up to get her the flames came up around her,” Benfield said. “I think her left arm was burned a little.”

The woman was taken to the hospital for evaluation, but no serious inju- ries were reported.

Though it has not been confirmed with the fire department, Benfield said he heard from his neighbor’s son that the fire may have been started by a heater in the basement.

An exact estimate was not immediately available, but parts of the home did sustain significant damage.

Spring City and Royers- ford fire departments assisted at the scene.

When asked how it feels to have saved his neighbor’s life, Benfield replied simply, “I don’t think it’s really registered yet.”

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRSTMEDIA Spring City-area firefighters extinguish a house fire in the 500block of East Vincent Avenue Thursday morning.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRSTMEDIA Neighbors comfort a woman who was rescued from her burning home by a neighbor, Wayne Benfield, standing in center of picture. Benfield rushed through flames and carried the woman to safety.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Spring City-area firefighters extinguish a house fire in the 500block of East Vincent Avenue in Spring City Thursday morning.

TOM KELLY III — FOR DIGITAL FIRSTMEDIA Wayne Benfield rescued his neighbor from a fire in her home Thursday morning.