Hockey Player Saves Host Mom From Raging Fire In Danvers
DANVERS (CBS) - Robin Kellow was upstairs in the shower when her Hobart Street home in Danvers caught fire Tuesday night.
The flames, seen in Go-Pro video that was attached to a Danvers firefighter's helmet, was swallowing the home and spreading fast.
"It was panic, full panic," she said.
Luckily, Kellow wasn't alone in the house.
Eighteen-year-old Martin Moioffer is one of three hockey players staying with her while he played for the East Coast Spartans this season. Moioffer is originally from Wisconsin.
The other two boys were not home.
"I heard him yelling, but they always yell when they play video games, so I wasn't thinking anything significant, and then he barged into the bathroom and he said, 'You have to get out of the house,' and he either said the couch was on fire or the house was on fire, and I'm like 'What... what are you talking about?' And he said, 'Robin, you got to get out of the house,' and when I opened the door to walk out, it was heavy, thick black smoke," she explained.
Kellow tells WBZ she has experienced something like this before. It was in 2009 when a microburst hit her home.
"The smoke was so bad, I got disoriented, lost. I couldn't find my way out, and it's a hallway and I was lost. I was walking into the railing," she said.
This, while Martin discovered half of the living room couch was on fire.
He soaked a towel in water and tried to put the fire out.
"I immediately ran downstairs when it was soaked and tried to smother the fire with it. When that didn't work, I put a tote for laundry in the sink and started to fill it with water," Moioffer said.
Robin couldn't find her way to the front door.
"I started screaming and said, 'I can't find my way out,'" she said.
"I was running around and trying to find her voice," Moioffer added.
At that moment, Martin turned on his phone's flashlight and there she was.
"He just grabbed my arm, but we couldn't see a foot in front of us. We couldn't see anything," she explained.
Martin also rescued the family dog, Sparky, before calling 911.
"A minute or two later, the entire living room, kitchen area and dining room area was all on fire. The windows had broken out - flames were coming out of those. Smoke was pouring out of windows on the opposite side of the house from the fire," he said.
Kellow is now picking up the pieces of her home and more thankful than ever for her house guests.
"I consider them my boys. I treat them like they're my own. My love for them runs deep for sure. I owe him my life."
"I consider her family, there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. People say I did such a great thing, but at the time, I was just making sure she was OK," Moioffer said.
Firefighters have deemed the cause of the fire a candle.
Kellow and the boys are staying in area hotels until they figure out a more permanent solution.
Now, friends and family are trying to raise money for Robin and the three hockey players.
