A US Navy veteran reacted instinctively to a midnight fire erupting outside his Washington home, rushing out naked to battle the blaze with a garden hose.
Wesley Howard, 43, was awakened by his fiancée on July 5 when flames erupted along their fence line, threatening their Sumner home and neighboring properties. Howard told Fox13 Seattle that he saw a "bright orange glow" and heard the fire crackling.
"My instinct told me to run down the stairs, grab that hose and start fighting regardless of if I had clothes on or not," Howard said. Doorbell camera footage captured Howard sprinting from his house and around the corner to confront the fire, still unclothed.
He described the moment of emerging from the house as strange but felt committed to acting. Howard continued to spray the fire with the hose for approximately five minutes before returning inside to put on shorts. He then fought the fire in his shorts for another 10 minutes until East Pierce County firefighters arrived.
The fire was fully extinguished about an hour later. Fire officials determined the blaze was ignited by fireworks from the previous night that had not been properly extinguished and were disposed of in a neighbor's trash can.
Howard, who served eight years in the Navy, said his actions were driven by training. "I was using my training. I knew the instinct kicked in and I wasn’t thinking; I was acting," he said. "One hundred percent, I would not hesitate again. Naked, it doesn’t matter; I would do it again."
Howard sustained minor burns to his feet and forearm. His neighbor's home also suffered minor damage. Howard noted the incident serves as a reminder of the potential danger of fireworks long after the Fourth of July holiday.