Good Samaritans step up during Menlo Park house fire

Good Samaritans step up during Menlo Park house fire

A group of good Samaritans jumped into action after spotting a home going up in flames overnight Monday in Menlo Park.

MENLO PARK, Calif. - A group of good Samaritans jumped into action after spotting a home going up in flames overnight Monday in Menlo Park.

Cell phone video captured the dramatic scene as they banged on the doors and windows of the burning home. The fire started early Monday morning at a home on Hill Avenue, not far from the highway. 

Residents rescued from fire

What they're saying:

The rescuers were from a church youth group in Redwood City and were driving from the movies when they drove past the house engulfed in flames. 

When they arrived, they immediately began to pray and jumped out of the car to find out if someone was inside.

"We were coming from the movies, and my little sister was driving. We were all in the car sleeping. Then we heard her burst out saying, ‘There’s a fire,’ and we all came out of the car," good Samaritan Seou Osaman said. "We were all constantly knocking on the window."

In the video, you can see one young woman open the front door of the house as dark smoke exits the home behind her.

The group managed to get everyone safely out of the burning home before Menlo Park firefighters arrived on the scene. 

Devastating damage extended beyond one house

The damage extends through at least half of the Menlo Park house. 

Firefighters on scene said it started in the kitchen.

Battalion Chief Jason Martin said two adults and two adult children who were in the home got out safely, and one was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but two dogs were lost in the fire. 

The homeowner of the home directly behind the house on Ivy Drive, Daniel Duenas, said the fire spread to their property, damaging the fencing and adjacent wall.

Duenas said the renters living in the home protected the property. 

Marelyn Ania, 12, who said her parents are renting the home, woke up to the smell of smoke and the sound of whimpering pets. 

"I heard someone screaming there inside and I was like ‘oh my God, someone is there,’" she said.

Marelyn described her father Julio saving their house by hosing a burning tree between homes.

"This tree was on fire, but my dad was on the roof and he spray water to [the trees]," she said.

Other neighbors a couple houses down, Ashley Ortiz and her mother, said they were told to evacuate their home while the firefighters worked.  

"We walked over here and we saw, I think the woman of the house, and she was like just crashing down. I felt bad. My mom was like 'maybe she's waiting for her pets or something,'" Ortiz said.

KTVU was unable to reach the family today, but the house is uninhabitable. 

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District’s administrative offices are closed for the holidays, so it’s unclear whether the family had any working smoke detectors.

However, neighbors said they did not hear any going off during the fire.