Boy risks life to warn neighbors of wildfire

Eighth-grader J.D. Tennapel suffered second-degree burns after trying to warn his neighbors about a sudden wildfire headed their way.

His father can't help but feel a little guilty that his son's ride ended with a trip to the hospital.

"I noticed the wind was kicking up, and it was kind of funny, you don't think fire. I just thought I want to get water down on the lawn, and my son goes dad, there's smoke up the road," said the boy's father, James Tennapel. "We knew it was going to be bad. I told my son to get on his ATV and head up the road and tell the neighbors all north of the fire, because it was so fast, you just didn't know who was in distress."

Tennapel says flames were climbing a hundred feet high, smoke thickening the air, but J.D. headed straight into it.

"He went to every door he could, and he was coming back, and the fire was coming over the road, and I saw his headlights," said Tennapel.

After warning neighbors, many of them elderly, J.D. was heading back to warn his dad.

"He just told me from the hospital, 'Dad, if I didn't come through the fire, I knew you were going to get in your truck and try to find me,' so he just floored it and came through," said Tennapel.

J.D. suffered second-degree burns to his arms, legs, and back, but his heroics didn't stop when he got in the ambulance.

"There's kind of a narrow - a hollow area down there, and he knows there's an older person that lives there, and that's who he was trying to get to," said Tennapel.

The fire was moving too fast, and J.D. told his dad he knew he'd never make it in time. Instead he let rescuers know of the woman's situation.

The woman's barn burned to the ground, but because of J.D.'s description of where she lived, firefighters were able to save her life.

Although his son is now being called a hero, Tennapel is just glad his son survived his heroic actions.

"I'm glad he did what I told him to do, but I'm a little guilty. I'm a little emotional of what could have been," said Tennapel.