A woman who ran into a burning home is alive today thanks to a neighborhood teenager who risked his life.
Seventeen-year-old Brendan Jenness of Lexington, Mass., had just come home Thursday evening when he saw the smoke from his neighbor's house.
The son of a local fire captain, Jenness' first instinct was to help. "I screamed for my dad and then I took off," Jenness told AOL News.
When he arrived, the family of four was safe outside but the mother ran back into the home. Jenness went right in after her.
"My dad was right there. He said he's been fighting fires for 20-something years, and he said she would have been gone."
Speaking to AOL News today after school, where was hailed a hero by classmates, Jenness said he was operating on adrenaline.
"I wasn't scared at all, but after I was like, what the hell did I just do?"
Despite Jenness' bravery, Assistant Chief John Fleck of the Lexington Fire Department warned that no one should go back into a burning building under any circumstances. "Once you're out, stay out," he told WHDH. "There's nothing in there worth risking your life for."
The family had originally tried to put the fire out on their own without success. Though the Fire Department was also unable to save the house, no one was injured.
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17-Year-Old Rescues Neighbor From Burning Home
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