19-year-old saves girlfriend from Detroit house fire by jumping out of window

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A 19-year-old is recovering in the hospital after saving himself and his girlfriend from a house fire last week.

Byron Wilson's family say he's a hero.

"Right now, I’m feeling alright," he told FOX 2 from his hospital bed. "I just got cleaned up and got my appendages changed."

The fire took place on Artesian Street in Detroit on January 11, around 1 a.m.

"Everything was off instinct, if anything," Wilson said. "I just knew that if I didn’t do anything then a lot of lives would’ve been lost."

Wilson was at his girlfriend's house, getting ready for bed, when her dog began barking at the bedroom door.

"Then we heard some crackling," he said. "So we opened the door, and we saw just fire right outside the door." 

He said flames were blocking the stairs, so he first yelled for help. But when smoke started to fill his lungs, he opted for another solution.

"I broke the window. I tore down the window, basically, and I grabbed my girlfriend and then I jumped out the window," Wilson said.

He landed first, cushioning the fall for his girlfriend, Wilson added. He then tried to get back into the burning house to rescue his girlfriend's family, but the front door was bolted.

Byron Wilson with his girlfriend. (Anastasia Abike Brooks)

" I was yanking as hard as I can for like a good 5-10 minutes, but it wasn’t working at all," he said.

Shortly after, first responders arrived and got his girlfriend’s mom, uncle, and cousin out to safety. All were taken to the hospital. 

As soon as Wilson’s family found out what had happened, they rushed to be by his side.

"Byron is probably going to take another couple of weeks because he really had the big burns," Paul Aleobua said, his grandfather. "I’m very proud of him. The boy is very smart, and he does everything for anybody." 

Wilson sustained second and third degree burns to his arm, back, and face. 

"At least I did – I tried something," Byron said. "I wanted to try something instead of not doing nothing."

As for his girlfriend and her family, they were treated and released from the hospital. They are currently are staying with other people.