A man rescued his neighbor from a burning home during Colorado’s wildfire, which destroyed nearly 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive in state history.
Phil Kupfner and his extended family have strong roots in Superior, per KUSA. He and his brothers have homes located on a few acres on the west side of town, and as the fire raged toward them, they did all they could to stave it off.
His niece Jessica told KUSA:
They were originally kind of using their hoses, and they thought they had kind of made some progress with a lot in deterring the fire. And then they just saw embers kind of coming up over the top and catching all their roofs on fire. And that was when they were like, ‘oh God, get out.’
Before he could evacuate, Phil went to save his neighbor Dave.
“He knew the neighbor was inside,” Jessica said. “So yeah, he went back.”
His family explained he ran into Dave’s burning home and got him out.
“He put him in his truck, and they drove out of the fire and the flame,” Jessica explained. Phil drove Dave to the hospital, and now both men are in an intensive care unit, unable to speak.
“They have burns in their throats and lungs, the doctor said, so they’re kind of guessing that potentially they inhaled some kind of fumes from a gas or some sort of explosion,” Jessica told KUSA.
Jessica told KUSA that Phil and Dave have made some progress, but they have a long road ahead.
Phil’s family established a GoFundMe to help with medical bills, per KUSA.
Thursday’s wildfire was the most destructive in Colorado history, Breitbart News previously reported. Nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, and two people remain missing, according to the Associated Press.