NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A 17-year-old is being credited with helping to save more than a dozen people from a burning apartment building in Newport News.
Lara West lives in the Anchor Point apartments off Tyler Avenue and Randolph Road. She says on Saturday, September 7, she heard a beeping in the distance and asked her son, Matthew Wilson, if he heard it.
Matthew was playing video games but stopped to go see what it was. He immediately smelled smoke in the hallway outside their apartment.
Watch: 9 displaced, 1 hospitalized in Ocean View 2-alarm apartment fire
“I turned to my mom and said, ‘Get the dog and get out of the building,’” Matthew recalled.
The Warwick High School junior then rushed from one door to another, warning neighbors.
He said, “I went upstairs, and I started beating on the doors. You know, like, ‘Hey, there’s a fire, you need to get out!’”
Some people then left their apartments, but there was one man he says has been undergoing cancer treatments, and he made it to his apartment. He was especially concerned about him.
Watch: Fire damages 12 apartments in Norfolk, firefighter hurt
“He answered the door. I woke him up,” Matthew said.
But the teen said no one answered at the unit above them where the fire appeared to be located. He described trying to kick the door in… unsuccessfully.
At that time, Newport News Fire Department hadn’t arrived.
According to the American Red Cross, Newport News firefighters quickly extricated the resident through a rear window. They say there were no serious injuries, and they believe the 17-year-old helped save 13 people.
Watch: 1 dog deceased and 4 people without a home after a fire on Spaulding Drive in Norfolk
The mother and son say they lost all their belongings in the fire and are temporarily staying at a hotel.
Lara West says items can be replaced. She is beaming with pride over her son’s actions.
“I’m so proud, but for real, I’m not surprised, because that’s Matthew,” West stated.
“That’s who he is. He’s a kind person. He thinks of others above himself.”
Bill Egerton is the Disaster Program Manager for American Red Cross Coastal Territory. While News 3 reporter Angela Bohon talked with the mother and son, he and Executive Director Leslie Crocker commended him, virtually.
“We want to thank you from the Red Cross, for your swift actions and your heroic actions and deeds,” said Egerton. “I’ve been going to fires for years, and it’s not often someone like you takes the action that you did. You are truly a blessing in all those lives.”
News 3 reached out to Newport News Fire Department for more information. There’s no word, yet, on what caused the fire.
Firefighters are also being credited for saving and treating Matthew’s cat, Levi.
