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Teen Comes To Couple's Rescue During House Fire

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - A Lakewood couple who were critically hurt in a house fire in Lakewood on Monday might not even be alive if it weren't for the heroics of an 18-year-old.

Mike Dillon, a freshman at Metropolitan State College of Denver, says he had just returned home from bowling early Monday morning when he saw flames nearby. It turned out the home of his neighbors Jim and Liesl Woodman was on fire.

Dillon ran to the scene and pounded on the front door, which is located on Dartmouth Street near Wadsworth Boulevard.

"I just asked 'Is anybody still in there? Are you okay?' They said 'No. Help us!' " Dillon told CBS4.

Other neighbors called 911 as the flames spread while Dillon began to realize how dangerous the situation was.

"The house filled with black smoke like something out of a movie. I couldn't see anybody in there, I just heard their voices and immediately thought 'We've got to get these guys out of the house no matter what,' " he said.

From inside the home, the panicked couple told Dillon they couldn't find the key to their deadbolt lock on the front storm door.

Dillon ran to the side of the home to find a window but the Woodmans then found the key and staggered outside. Liesl walked to the street but her husband fell down in the front yard.

"He was on the ground. He couldn't barely breathe, he was telling me. His eyes were glazed over white. The woman's, too," Dillon said.

By that time the fire had spread to the front of the house. It was at that time that Dillon made a life saving decision that emergency crews said was a heroic act.

"It was actually getting hot out on the front lawn. I moved him to the neighbor's lawn and walked him over there. He couldn't walk so I carried him over my shoulder," he said.

Dillon said Jim "was heavier than he looked." He then kept him concious until the ambulance arrived.

Donna Gerhardt, another neighbor, told CBS4 she got to the scene in time to see Jim sprawled on the front lawn with Dillon hovering over him.

"His face was covered in soot," Cody said. "I think he's a hero."

It's not clear how much damage the fire did to the home. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Woodmans were listed in critical condition at the hospital on Monday night but doctors said they had a good chance of surviving.

"I was just glad I could be of some help to them and I hope they're doing okay," he said.

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