When the Dreher High School distance runners set out for their weekly long run, they expected to enjoy a casual nine miles near campus in Columbia, South Carolina. But in a shocking turn of events, three teammates became local heroes.
On Monday, February 10, Micah Roth, Eliza Jones, and Hampton Rogers helped put out a house fire midway through the team’s run that afternoon.
While jogging together in the neighborhood, the teenagers were approached by local resident Donna McIntosh Aiken, who was looking for help after a fire broke out on her stovetop. In a frantic state, Aiken asked if any of the runners knew how to use a fire extinguisher as the blaze continued to grow inside her home. Though he’d never operated one before, Roth had read the instructions on the back of his family’s fire extinguisher and offered to assist.
“I figured it would probably be a bad thing to let her go in alone, especially if she didn’t know how to use a fire extinguisher,” Roth told Runner’s World. “It wasn’t like this deep-seated sense of courage within me. I just wanted to help her, and I felt that if I could help her, I should.”
Alongside his teammates, Jones and Rogers, the high school sophomore walked into the home with Aiken. With the fire alarm blaring, she led the runners further into the house while the rooms overflowed with smoke. When they made it into Aiken’s kitchen, they discovered the stove was ablaze.
Aiken handed the fire extinguisher to Roth, who was able to put out the flames after yanking the pin out of its rusty handle. “But now the fire extinguisher fumes are mixing with the smoke, which is making this thick cloud of acidic smoke,” Roth recounted. “It was terrible, burning our eyes and stuff.”
The four escaped out of the house with Jones escorting Aiken. Once outside, Rogers asked someone walking by to call 911. The runners attempted to rescue Aiken’s dog, who was trapped in the back porch near the kitchen, but the smoke proved too dangerous for reentry. When the fire department arrived, firefighters were able to bring the pet to safety.
Afterwards, the teammates continued their run all the way back to school. For Jones, who lives just a few blocks from Aiken’s home, the experience meant a lot. “I’ve always really loved that house and I never knew Miss Donna before this situation. I’m just glad I got to save the house and meet Miss Donna because she’s a very nice person,” Jones told Runner’s World. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for someone to lose their house like that. I’m glad she’s okay, and the home is okay.”
On February 25, Roth, Jones, and Rogers were honored by the Richland One School Board and presented with certificates of recognition by the fire department for their courageous actions that day.
“I am so appreciative for what they did,” Aiken told the Columbia-Richland Fire Department. “Had it not been for them, I may have lost my home.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
