VIDEO: A New Jersey family narrowly escaped a fire that devastated their home, and they may owe their lives to a quick-thinking neighbor who rushed to alert them just before midnight. Caught on a doorbell camera, dramatic video showed the moments Jonathan Pope and his family ran from their burning home in Toms River after a neighbor pounded on their door to wake them up late Saturday night.
“I just heard boom, boom, boom, pounding on the garage, it sounded like a truck or a car was hitting my garage. I thought people were trying to breaking in,” said Pope. “So I ran out and I peek over and I see him opening the front door and lights all around him, [shouting] โHey get out of the house, thereโs a fire!โ Pope’s wife grabbed their 9-month-old baby, and the family raced outside. They had no idea their home was already on fire until that moment.
“The way the fire spread, that wouldโve went to the roof and just spread around the house,” Pope said. “By the time the smoke got in and penetrated drywallโฆWe might not have had an escape.” Days later, the damage was still visible. The fire left the home uninhabitable, leaving the family to stay at a hotel while they figure out their next steps. Investigators with the local fire department determined the fire was accidental.
