Patrick TrautfieldCal Poly nutrition senior Amy Foley and Cuesta College student Tom Weidner were winding down in the late night hours after the Feb. 4 Super Bowl. The pair was discussing the party when Amy noticed what appeared to be a glowing light in a neighboring house.
Amy said that the glow looked like a fire.
“At first, I didn’t believe her, but then it started to get bigger,” Weidner said.
The pair reacted immediately; Weidner sprinted to the house and knocked on windows, alerting the occupants to the apparent blaze inside. Meanwhile, Foley called the fire department on her cell phone.
Within a few minutes, the house at 2443 Broad St. was engulfed in flames. However, all eight of the structure’s occupants, five adults and three children, escaped the blaze without injury.
“It was incredible,” Foley said of the fire. “You see it in movies but you don’t believe it. It’s a miracle that nobody was hurt.”
Both Foley and Weidner were honored for their actions at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The San Luis Obispo Fire Department presented the pair with a certificate of commendable action and Fire Chief John Callahan and Mayor Dave Romero lauded the 22-year-olds’ effort and courage.
“After 35 years in this business, in my opinion, if they hadn’t reacted the way they did, we would have had a number of fatalities,” Callahan said.
According to Callahan and fire inspector John Madden, the fire began as a short in a light fixture in the kitchen at the rear of the home. The house, which was being remodeled, had no working smoke alarm and had the front door blocked by furniture. The occupants escaped through windows and a porch on the side of the house. Total damages were estimated at $350,000, including $250,000 to the structure and $25,000 in personal property.
“People always talk about what they would grab in a fire, but the truth is you don’t have time to do that, it all happens so fast,” Foley said.
Callahan noted that responding fire crews had to force their way through the front door due the barricade of furniture. Asked to describe the condition of the home after the fire, Madden depicted it as “gutted,” and said the home will eventually have to be torn down.
After the ceremony, Foley and Weidner stood with Callahan for pictures and gave interviews to local television stations on the steps of City Hall. Although numerous people described the duo’s actions as heroic, both Foley and Weidner remained humble and a bit intimidated by all the attention.
“I don’t feel like I did anything special, I did what anyone would have done in that situation. I’m just glad it ended up the way it did,” Weidner said.
Foley agreed with Weidner’s sentiments.
“I appreciate the community support and their outlook, but I don’t feel like a hero, (the attention) is a little intimidating,” Foley said. Although Foley admitted that her friends do tease her and call her “hero” from time to time.
Romero also cited the pair’s actions as the opposite of the negative behavior often associated with college students in the community.
Callahan agreed.
“There seem to be negative connotations when it comes to students; I think they bring a unique energy to the city, this is a perfect example,” Callahan said.
Coincidentally, the pair and one of the occupants of the house are all employed at Mother’s Tavern, owned by City Council member Paul Brown. Brown also congratulated his employees on the their “courageous efforts,” adding, “Everyone in here hope we would react in the way the two of you did.”