Teen Named Hero After Saving Elderly Woman in Fire
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WEAKLEY CO. Tenn.- A Greenfield teen is being called a hero after fire officials say the 18-year-old high school student saved an elderly woman’s life during a house fire. “I usually don’t go that way, but I happened to go that way when I seen smoke,” explained Jason Fortner. “I said that’s not right. I need to go back.” Fortner tells WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News when he knocked on the door, the elderly woman inside had no idea about the blaze. “She said ‘who are you’, and I said ‘I’m Jason, you don’t know me ma’am, just open the door’,” said Fortner. “It took her a few minutes to get her to the door, and I said ‘ma’am your house is on fire’. She didn’t know.” Fire officials said Fortner got to the house just in time. “The good Lord was looking after both him and Ms. Cavender that night,” said Greenfield Fire Chief Bob Dudley. “If it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t be here, there’s no doubt.” Once Fortner got the homeowner outside, he said he went back into the burning house to get her pets out safely. “The Temperature in that house was 1,400 to 1,600 degrees at some points,” Chief Dudley said. “Everyone just keeps asking me what did you think. I don’t know, I just thought it was the best thing that needed to be done,” said Fortner. The home is still standing, but Chief Dudley says the back of the home has severe damage. Fortner will be honored for his actions Tuesday evening at the city’s board meeting.
