Dan Thrift/Appeal News Service Tim and Denise Upton, left, thank Josh Boles and Cory Volkmar for saving their home. "We owe them big; these are fine young men," said Upton.
Three people became heroes during the early hours of the Angora fire Sunday afternoon. Randy Volkmar, along with his 17 year-old son, Corey, and friend Josh Boles may have saved at least three houses from burning down, thanks to their bravery and quick thinking.
Randy and his wife, Wendy, were attending a soccer game when they noticed a plume of smoke coming from the direction of their home on Grizzly Mountain. They quickly headed home.
The two boys were trying to drive back to the Volkmars' home, and were not permitted access to their street due to the fire. They parked at Lake Tahoe Golf Course, and ran through the woods to the house on a trail they knew.
"There was smoke all over the place, so we wanted to see how close the fire was." said Boles. "It looked like it was within a mile of us."
As Wendy packed up to evacuate, the two boys and Randy jumped on their mountain bikes to see where the fire was.
"We saw two-story houses in complete flames, and there was smoke all over the place." said Corey Volkmar. "A few of the houses had bushes on fire."
"No one else was around, so we grabbed garden hoses and started watering down the houses," Volkmar added. "At one of the houses, we had to break the window to shoot water inside."
"We saw a bunch of brush fires around houses and put them out," Boles said. "We weren't worried, because the fire was going sideways from us. We knew if it got too bad, we could get on our bikes and get out of there quickly."
"Overall, we probably put out fires on six or seven houses," Volkmar said. "When the fire trucks showed up, they told us to leave."
Back home, as Wendy packed up, things were getting worse.
"All of a sudden, I heard propane tanks exploding and flames spreading through the trees," Wendy said. "I was worried when they were gone so long but glad they did such a good deed."
"We didn't know whose houses they were," Bales added. "We just wanted to help."
When people were able to return to the neighborhood, it was reported that all three houses on Zuni survived.