A Simple Mistake Helps Save Lives of Four Iowans in Fire [VIDEO]

A man came to the rescue of four people during a horrible blaze in an Iowa town of just under 6,000.

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The fire broke out in Red Oak, in southwest Iowa, a little before 2 a.m. on Sunday, October 23. A man who was driving in the area says he came upon the fire totally by accident. He had taken a wrong turn and ended up driving down the street where the fire was just beginning. Knowing the time of day, he assumed people must be inside and sprung into action.

According to our news partner, KCRG, the man's name is Brendon Birt. As he drove up, the fire was just beginning to envelop the front porch of the home. Inside the house were four people... a 22-year-old man and his three siblings. Smoke alarms weren't going off and the parents of the four were out of town, due to a family emergency.

Birt ran around to the side of the home, yelling and pounding on the windows trying to wake anyone that was inside. Thankfully, it worked. All four people inside the home were able to escape a very harrowing situation. Birt's heroics were captured on video by the home's Ring doorbell (below). The home, above, was a total loss.

In the video below, you can see the four people who escaped running through the front porch on their way to safety. Just watching the video shows you the pure panic of the situation. When they got out of the home, fire crews from area departments hadn't yet arrived. Without Birt driving by, there would have likely been a very different outcome.

Sadly, five of the family's seven dogs were killed in the fire.