GREENVILLE, Ohio — In a tiny Ohio town you could say a superhero came to life during a house fire on Halloween night.
“Greenville’s always been a quiet community,” said Jim Comer.
The longtime resident has been covering the area for The Daily Advocate newspaper for two years.
“I’ve done quite a few articles on people who’s gone in and saved some people or helped pull people out of houses, but on Halloween night and with a full moon, it’s very unique to see some in a superhero’s costume just happened to be driving by,” Comer laughed.
The man in the costume is Chris Taylor.
“There’s a show on Amazon Prime called 'The Boys.' I love it,” he said when asked about the costume.
That’s what Taylor ironically dressed up as for Halloween with his children and fiancé. Life then imitated art as they headed to a party.
“We took the alley. First time ever. And we pull up to the alley and I look back there’s flames coming out of the house and the whole upstairs was consumed, flames were just pouring out it was pretty gnarly,” Taylor explained.
Without reservation, he ran inside the two-story home on Water Street.
“I yelled as loud as a I can is anybody in here real loud and I heard, if someone was to get hit in the sternum how you kind of sound like you’re losing your wind I heard a sound like that; kind of a moaning, wispy sound,” Taylor recalled.
He found the man upstairs and pulled him to safety.
“There were flames around and just inches from me; my costume was getting hot I felt like I was melting; I couldn’t breathe the smoke was real, real heavy,” he said.
Firefighters and paramedics were there when they got outside. Taylor and his family eventually made it to the party, but isn’t finished with the costume.
“I feel like I should keep the costume just so I can always remember like this is who you are. You’re somebody who’s going to help people if they need it.”
Greenville is about 100 miles east of Indianapolis, but Taylor did spend 10 years living in Winchester, Indiana.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The man inside the home is OK and even refused medical treatment on the scene.