New York

Stranger Saves Family From Their Burning New York Home

A Good Samaritan is being credited with saving a family from their burning New York home.

Michael Cola of Putnam Valley was on his way to an auto parts store Monday evening when he saw black smoke pouring out of an open garage and inside the home was a mother and her six kids.

“I was yelling in and saying your house is on fire, your house is on fire,” Cola said.

Nobody knew their Putnam Valley house was on fire until Cola came to the rescue.

Cell phone video from the scene shows the frantic moments Cola ran up to the house, screaming for everybody to get outside.

“I stopped the car and ran up the driveway because I figured that someone left something on,” Cola said.

Things went from bad to worse when power lines started sparking, leaving a panicked family running to safety.

“They had fireworks in the house,” Cola said. “Everything started exploding.”

Putnam Valley volunteer firefighters came rushing to the scene soon after and put the fire out within 10 minutes. Everyone, including the family’s cat, got out safely and nobody was hurt.

“It looked bigger than what it was,” Chief Dave Anderson said. “It was a quick knock down. My guys did a great job.”

The family is grateful for Cola’s quick thinking, and Cola said he just did what anyone should have done.

“The mom said thank you and when the dad came home he said thank you and I said it feels weird for you to say that.”

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