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Off-duty firefighter Tim Tawater was driving in October 2015 when he spotted a house up in flames. He stopped his car and rushed to help.


Neighbors were trying to coax the family’s dog, Sampson, out of the house — with no luck. That’s when Tim stepped in and risked his life.

“The big dog was in the back window… but the window was closed,” the firefighter said. “So, I went inside the front.”

Despite neighbors yelling at the firefighter to get out of the house, Tim spent almost a minute inside searching for the dog. As you’ll see in the footage below, the people filming were worried about the roof collapsing on him.


“Hey, that roof is going to go. Get out of there!” one man shouted. Another woman yelled “Oh, Jesus,” when the roof does fall. She feared the worst.

After 51 long seconds inside the burning house, the off-duty firefighter’s pink shirt becomes visible from the doorway, and he’s carrying the dog wrapped in a blanket. After his heroic rescue, Tim left the home. But he did finally reunite with the dog he saved as well as his owners.

“Someone who’d never even met us showed us the ultimate act of kindness and saved part of our family,” Sampson’s owner said.

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