‘They’re 3 Angels’ — Teens Run Into Burning Retirement Home To Evacuate Residents

Jun 16, 2021 by apost team

Three teenage boys quickly became local heroes in St. Albert, Atlanta, after they risked their own lives to help save the lives of others. When the teenagers were driving on their way to a basketball court in their local area on Thursday, May 6, 2021, they noticed smoke coming from a nearby retirement home. The Citadel Mews West Retirement facility had caught on fire, leaving everyone inside in danger and with an urgent need to evacuate. The boys knew that they needed to do something to help.

Ryken Glew and Jackson Brown, both 17, immediately stopped and parked their car so they could rush into the retirement home to help the residents evacuate safely, risking their own lives in the process. Their friend, 18-year-old Ethan Katicic, joined them later to help evacuate anyone still left in the building and to help rescue the residents’ pets.

Despite the extremely dangerous conditions, such as high flames and thick smoke, the teens did not hesitate to rush into the retirement facility to help any of the elderly people living there find their way out of the home.

Many residents and their family members expressed their gratitude for the teens and their immense amount of fearlessness. They were not concerned at all with their own safety, but rather with making sure that the elderly residents were able to quickly and safely evacuate the place of residency. These young boys showed an incredible amount of courage and heroism when they decided to perform this paramount act of kindness and bravery. About their act, Ryken Glew said, "We did our best and that’s all we could do."

When Ryken and Jackson Brown saw smoke coming from the retirement facility, they knew they needed to help. “We knew that the elderly people were going to struggle coming out,” Jackson told CTV News. The boys checked in with the nursing staff at the entrance before they made their way inside to help evacuate the residents.

CTV News reported that the teenagers banged on the doors to alert residents of the fire and checked every room to make sure no one was still stuck in the building. The fire had not yet reached the roof, but the smoke was already thick and heavy on the fourth floor. Despite the high intensity of their situation, the boys were not worried about their own safety, but rather the safety of the residents. 

“The only thing that was going through my mind is what if I miss someone and they’re stuck in the building,” Jackson said. Their friend Ethan quickly arrived at the scene shortly after Ryken and Jackson had already started evacuating people. After this, he helped rescue any pets that were still inside. 

Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after, and the teenagers kept their distance to let them do their job. Many residents and their family members expressed their gratitude to the boys, including Richard Belley, whose father lived on the fourth floor of the resident facility. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re three angels,” Belley said.

Despite this, the teens don’t consider themselves heroes. “I was raised always to help people regardless of what was happening and so my first instinct was to go in there, help everyone you can and get out,” Ryken said. Ethan agreed and expressed how he had always wanted to be a firefighter, so this was a “big moment” for him.

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