Marek Dessimoz and his parents were at the sixth hole of the Hyperion Field Club in Johnston, playing golf to celebrate Mother’s Day, when his mother swung her club and looked up, seeing billowing smoke and rising flames from a nearby house.
Agnieszka Pieta, Dessimoz’s mother, began yelling for help, and Douglas Kaye, his father, called 911.
But Dessimoz, 17, a junior at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, didn’t hesitate when he sprang into action, jumping the six-foot fence that stood between him and the house on Ridgedale Ct. The house’s light blue paint was blackening from the flames that began spreading to the roof above the balcony.
“He flew over the fence,” Pieta told the Register. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, where are you going?'”
Dessimoz said it was instinct, that his first thought was “I gotta go help out,” he said in an interview with the Register.
Dessimoz ran to the front of the house, eventually spotting the homeowner.
Polk County Assessor records show Johnston resident Shari Stone owns the home. Adam Ostert, the fire marshal of the Johnston-Grimes Fire District, confirmed Stone was the only resident of the home. The Register could not reach Stone for comment.
“The lady opens the door, and an Amazon worker also comes, and we tell her to come out of the house, ’cause there’s nothing you can do at that point,” Dessimoz said. “The full balcony was enflamed.”
The house began filling with smoke, detectors blaring, by the time Dessimoz and the Amazon driver got Stone out of the home. They then heard a liquid propane tank connected to a gas grill explode.
“You could hear the windows shatter from the other side of the home and a big boom,” Dessimoz recalled. “And the fire grew bigger.”
Stone realized her cat was still in the home, and attempted to go back to retrieve it. Dessimoz went back in and stopped her. “It would put her more at risk,” he said.
Percy Coleman, the fire chief of the Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District, said he believes Dessimoz “absolutely contributed to saving her life and getting her to safety.”
Crews from the Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District, as well as crews from Ankeny, Polk City, Saylor Township, Urbandale and Altoona fire departments, and Johnston Police Department responded to the call, according to a news release from the city of Johnston.
After crews arrived at the scene, Dessimoz said Stone was surrounded by neighbors. He jumped back over the fence and stood with his parents, watching the home continue to burn as crews tried to put the fire out.
“We never talked to anyone about it,” Dessimoz said. “We helped out and then kind of just let the fire department do their job and take care of it.”
Firefighters first attempted to put out the fire from the inside, but structural concerns and fire spread made the crews evacuate the house and try to put the fire out from the outside.
“He just did what he thought had to be done,” Pieta said of her son. “He was very brave.”
The fire, which began at around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 10, was battled by crews until 9 p.m. A neighboring home sustained minor damage from “intense radiant heat,” the release said.
The embers rekindled early the next morning, according to a report from WHO13.
Coleman said the fire started on the balcony near a fire pit that was not hooked up to a gas line. He believes the fire pit did not contribute to the fire. He also said Stone attempted to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.
The cause of the fire is not yet known and remains under investigation. No injuries were reported. The cat was found safe in the home’s basement.
“Investigators are just trying to figure out what might have started it,” Coleman said.
Coleman said the house is a total loss. He also said a house at the same address previously had a fire and was a total loss around 4 years ago.
Pieta calls her son a hero, and she is proud of him for his quick thinking. “How he acted was very heroic,” she said.
“I’ve never thought anyone has called me a hero,” Dessimoz said. “I think everyone who was there and helped in general… I wasn’t the individual hero.”
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ‘I gotta go help out’: Ankeny teen helps save woman from house fire
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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