HURLEYVILLE — On Monday, August 15, George Gibson and Russell Fox were both working at Behan’s Garage and Towing in Hurleyville when they noticed smoke coming from an apartment house across the road on Main Street.

At first, Gibson and Fox brushed it off, thinking it was just someone cooking outdoors. On second thought, Gibson, who has been a firefighter for nearly 30 years, said that the smoke seemed more than just a simple barbecue.

Gibson and Fox went across the road to investigate and found a young boy standing outside of the four-room apartment house. When they asked him what was wrong, Gibson said the boy told them his apartment was on fire.

Quickly, Gibson called 911 and asked the boy if anyone was inside; the boy didn’t know.

In hearing this new development, Gibson ran into the building to find the hallways overfilled with smoke.

Fox ran back across the road to Behan’s Garage to retrieve a fire extinguisher, while Gibson said he made his way to the upper floors.

Not hearing any smoke alarms, Gibson started banging on doors to see if anyone was trapped inside one of the apartments.

Gibson said an apartment door finally opened, and he found residents inside, who, Gibson noted, did not seem aware that there was an active fire going on.

Gibson escorted the residents to a safe area through the hot smoke and outside.

Fox returned with the fire extinguisher, and he said he noticed flames coming out of the first-floor apartment and started using the fire extinguisher to help put them out.

“If nobody went to try to get these people and tell them to get out, it would have been a horrible situation,” said Gibson.

Gibson did suffer an injury while rescuing the residents from the apartment house; in his heroic efforts, he inhaled hot smoke that caused a blister in his throat.

He said he went to urgent care the next day and is mending well.

The Hurleyville Fire Department arrived at the scene at 314 Main Street around 6:30 p.m. and left around 11:30 p.m. after the fire was extinguished.

However, at 3:30 a.m., the house fire reignited again, Hurleyville Fire Chief Charles Payne told the Democrat.

Gibson said he also returned to the site after hearing about another fire in fear that it was the garage since it was so close to the scene.

The apartment house at 314 Main Street has been reduced to a pile of charred wood with red hazard tape surrounding the perimeter.

According to Payne, all the residents were relocated by the American Red Cross as the home was deemed unsafe.

Gibson said he didn’t give it a second thought going into the smoldering apartment house; instincts kicked in, he added.

When asked how it feels to help save someone’s life, Fox said, “It’s another day in the neighborhood.”

Gibson added that what he and Fox did is something he hopes anyone else would do.

“I would hope that somebody would do that for me one day if I was in [that] situation,” he said.