Heroic Teens Help Evacuate Burning Reston Condo Complex

A huge, overnight fire at a condo building in Fairfax County didn't scare off a group of teenagers. They courageously jumped into action and helped people get out, neighbors said.

Trey Brown, 17, was skateboarding with a couple of friends about 1 a.m. when the three-alarm fire in the 4100 block of Gate Hill Place in Reston, Va., started.

“We thought it was fireworks at first,” he said.

He and his friends joined Tamara Newman, a resident of the complex, in going door-to-door to urge people to get out of their condos. Together they rescued an elderly woman and a woman who doesn’t speak much English, Newman told News4’s Erika Gonzalez.

“We should probably put those kids up for an award,” Fairfax County Fire Capt. Willie Bailey said. “They probably saved some lives tonight.”

About 100 firefighters spent about two hours extinguishing the fire.

One person suffered minor injuries.

Nine of the 18 units in the building were damaged, displacing almost 20 residents. The fire department says. Five units sustained heavy damage, and four others had moderate damage, the fire department told the Associated Press. Damages are estimated at $1 million.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.