Wrong turn saves lives: Driver sees home on fire, rescues family
Published: December 6, 2006
Ray Ladner has no fire training, just the will to keep anyone from suffering through what his grandmother did.
The Terminix employee was heading to an appointment about noon Monday when he made a wrong turn onto Heatherwood Drive. It turned out to be a right turn, though. [When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence]
When he looped around the cul-de-sac, smoke billowing from the back of a nearby home grabbed his attention. He jumped out of his truck and rushed to the home to make sure everyone inside, including five children, was safe and the fire department was on its way.
Ladner dragged a water hose to the back of the home and began dousing the flames, which had started to climb the walls and cabinets.
Within a few minutes, the fire was under control. But more important, everyone was safe.
About 15 years ago, Ladner’s grandmother died after being severely burned when her house went up in flames. Someone driving by the home had pulled her out of the house. She had passed out in a recliner.
“He didn’t want to see anyone else die in a fire just like his grandma,” his mother, Sherry Hanson, said from her North Carolina home. “For him to do this, I think is just heroic. I’m so proud of him that he could care for somebody else besides himself. He doesn’t even know these people. He just made a wrong turn on a wrong street.”
Elaine Cullen, who works with Ladner, wasn’t surprised by his thoughtfulness. “We have this cat around here, a stray cat. She had babies. Ray…
took the cat, got her fixed and everything and brought her back here.” He still takes care of the cat, making sure she and her kittens are fed.
“He always helps whoever he can,” she said. “He’s the kind of person I could see - animals, human, anybody in distress - if Ray can help, he will do it.”
After the fire, Ladner needed someone to help him. Smoke inhalation sent him to urgent care.
“It felt like somebodywas standing on my chest,” he said. [Beyond Coincidence: Amazing Stories of Coincidence and the Mystery and Mathematics Behind Them]
Ladner and his wife are expecting a baby on Feb. 8. Those treating him at the hospital, he said, told him he had “a couple of screws loose.”
“But I would do it again. That’s just the kind of person I am.”
“I would do it again. That’s just the kind of person I am.”
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