Good Samaritan Alerts Sleeping Family To House Fire

PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - A man is saying he just happened to be in the right place at the right time Monday night when he spotted a home on fire.

Flames tore through a home in Parker just after midnight Tuesday morning, destroying just about everything inside. The damage could have been much worse with a family of three sound asleep inside when it erupted.

Troy Brienzo, 21, took a route that night he doesn't usually take.

"I knew as soon as I saw it what it was."

He was on his way home when he saw the family's garage had caught fire. He immediately pulled over to help.

"I told my fiancé I'm going in the house, call 911," he told CBS4's Karen Morfitt.

Brienzo didn't have a plan, but knew if there were people inside they had to get out.

"First thing I did was start screaming fire, fire, fire, to wake people in the neighborhood up. And then I started banging on the door," he said.

With the door unlocked, he made his way inside.

"As soon as I opened that door there was smoke coming at me," Brienzo said.

"The lady was coming down the stairs, just woke up, she's like where's the fire, and I told her it's in your garage we need to get out."

He was able to help all three people inside the home get to safety. When fire crews arrived, they were able to quickly get in and take control of the flames. They also saved the family's cats.

Having just returned home from the Army, Brienzo had only been in town for two days. He says he was simply in the right place at the right time. But he also may have been the right guy for the job.

"I'm doing what any person should do when you see a house on fire, when you see a life in jeopardy," Brienzo said.

He went back to the home Tuesday afternoon, and the owner happened to be on scene. She thanked him and gave him a big hug, he said.