Man Saves Pasadena Resident From House Fire

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When Sean “Tommy” Corkran and Danielle Carson stepped outside Carson’s home in Riviera Beach during the wee hours of August 13, the only smoke they expected to see was what drifted upward from their cigarettes. Within moments, they heard two loud bangs, then a woman’s scream. A minute later, the same sounds rang out again. Carson, having lived in the area her entire life, had a hunch as to which house could be the origin. The two friends drove in Corkran’s truck around a field separating them from the house. As they approached, they saw smoke billowing out of the side door of a home on Lawrence Avenue.

Corkran himself is no stranger to misfortune. The 31-year-old father of three has struggled to find steady work since 2001, and for the past six months, he has lived out of his Dodge Ram. When he saw the urgency of the fire, Corkran did not hesitate. He jumped from the truck he calls home as it was still moving. The vehicle lurched forward, hitting some pillars that separated the road from the adjacent field, but was largely undamaged.

Corkran ran to the house and saw Lois “O’ee” Lutz standing nearby, frantic. “She kept saying, ‘He's stuck inside! There's a fire inside!’” Corkran recalled. In the basement was Lutz’s partner of 27 years, 61-year-old Charles Novak, a Navy veteran and former fire fighter. The previous day, the region had seen record-breaking rainfall; Novak surmised that water had seeped into the basement of his 1962 home and reached some electrical connections, igniting the fire. Novak put his training to use as he tried to use a wet towel to smother the flames.

“But at that moment, something blew up...then the basement was completely dark and smoke-filled. Because of my background, I didn't panic, but I did feel a sense of urgency,” Novak recalled. He was able to break through the right pane of a window to get air to breathe, but the left pane would not budge. Novak was additionally hindered by spinal stenosis, which causes severe chronic pain. “So it seems I just reflexively yelled, ‘Call 9-1-1! Help! Help! Hurry!’” Novak said.

Then he heard Corkran’s voice.

“I wasn't really thinking about me,” Corkran recalled. “I was thinking, how am I going to get this guy out?” Corkran kicked through the window, and together he and Novak removed the 12-by-18-inch frame. Corkran, who said he weighs less than 150 pounds, locked wrists with 6-foot-4-inch, 241-pound Novak and pulled him through the window frame to safety.

Lutz stood by, watching in astonishment. “With his weak left leg and physical size, I am amazed he could squeeze through,” she said.

Carson, who had meanwhile dialed 9-1-1, was not surprised at her friend’s courage. “He always seems to try to help people. I think it was his instinct to just go. I was scared,” she said. Then Carson found herself stepping in to ensure her friend’s safety as well. Corkran wanted to go back into the house to rescue the couple’s pets. “But I wouldn’t let him, because there was just black smoke, and if he’d gone back in, he could’ve just suffocated,” Carson said.

Minutes later, the fire department arrived, and Novak was transported to the hospital. Lieutenant Russ Davies of the fire marshal’s office echoed Carson’s fear for a rescuer’s own safety. “We discourage going back into a house to assist a family member or a neighbor, or to put yourself into a dangerous situation to rescue.” Yet, Davies concluded, “He should be commended for assisting his neighbor.”

Corkran left the scene once the fire was tamed, but the rescue had a lasting impact on him. “I feel like I saved a person's life,” he said. “If anything happens, like if [Novak] decides he wants kids at some point, I saved another life too.” Corkran has stayed in touch with Novak and Lutz, and he introduced his two eldest children to the couple. “I let them know what happened and what their father had done,” Corkran said with pride.

For Novak’s part, he said he is glad Corkran was there. Once he was out of the house, he recalled, “I could finally see Tommy clearly...I saw a muscular blond guy in a black, sleeveless shirt with the classic yellow Batman logo. I said to him, ‘You are Batman.’”

Corkran smiled, having forgotten which shirt he was wearing until that very moment. Novak, reflecting on Corkran’s heroism, added, “I will continue to think of him as Batman.”

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