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He ran through fire to help strangers: 'I could hear the babies crying'

Posted at 5:08 PM, May 16, 2023
and last updated 2023-05-16 21:05:21-04

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- Bradley Stuller recounted his heroic actions Tuesday, one day after he ran into a burning Colonial Heights home in an attempt to rescue a grandmother and her two grandchildren.

“There was something bad happening and I could help. So that’s all I could do," Stuller said.

Colonial Heights fire

Stuller was driving on Covington Road on Monday afternoon when he saw smoke pouring from a home.

"I met up with a young kid in the carport and I asked him if the house was on fire. He said, 'yes,'" Stuller said. "I said, 'is anybody in there' and he said 'Me-maw.'"

Stuller ran around to the back of the house and went inside.

"It was pitch black, you couldn’t see anything," he said. "I get her down the stairs and outside."

With Grandma safe outside, Stuller ran back inside.

Colonial Heights fire

"The fire is right there in the living room and that’s where I could hear the babies crying," he said. "The fire is three feet away from me. I could hear the kids, six feet away from me."

Colonial Heights firefighters eventually made it into the house and pulled the children, ages one and two, out.

The children and their grandmother were last listed in critical condition at the hospital.

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"I just thank him so much. He’s the reason my grandmother is alive," family member Destiny Davis said of Stuller's action.

Colonial Heights fire

The investigation into what started the fire remained ongoing.

Most of the fire damage was contained to the living room, according to fire investigators.

"I believe the fire started in, on, or around that sofa area, it’s a sectional," Colonial Heights Deputy Fire Marshal Brett Jennings said.

Davis, who said the children were in a Pack'N'Play in the living room, asked the community for prayers to help her loved ones survive.

The Colonial Heights Fire Department asked anyone in need of a smoke detector to call 804-805-2563.

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