Maryland

Family Thankful for Man Who Rescued Them From Maryland House Fire

A Maryland family is thankful this holiday for the man who ran toward their burning home last month and led three people to safety.

Monique Hines has fond memories of life with her family in their home of 11 years in Glenn Dale.

"We're home, we're safe, we're warm," she said.

But in the early hours of Nov. 5, that sense of security came to an end.

"I heard a loud boom! Boom!” Hines said. “And then this crackling sound, and I felt the house move."

She frantically scrambled to gather her children and her parents as heat and flames surrounded them.

"We had to get out; we had seconds," she said.

Flames were already blocking a stairway.

She'd made it to the back deck, but not everyone did.

"When I looked back, my mom wasn't there, my 3-year-old daughter wasn't there, and my 14-year-old son wasn't there.

But Dexter Craig was there. He driving a different route home that morning.

"I had noticed in the distance some black smoke," he said.

He pulled up just as Hines made her way off the deck.

“After she had told me that they were still down there, I just took off running towards the deck," he said.

"Just as fast as he went down the hill, he came back up with my mom and my 3-year-old daughter and my son, and he helped bring all of us to safety," Hines said.

“One of the hardest things to endure was to sit there and watch them loose everything," Craig said.

But they still had each other; everyone got out OK.

"He is a hero,” Hines said. “My children look at him as a real living hero."

The family created a GoFundMe page to help with their recovery from the fire.

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