PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A 17-year-old boy pulled a woman from a burning home after an explosion rocked a Plainfield Township neighborhood early Tuesday morning.
The Kent County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident as an attempted murder-suicide. The woman remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Walker Northview Comstock Park
Investigators: Home explosion was an attempted murder-suicide
Mandrell Bryant said the explosion woke him up, and when he looked outside, he could see the woman on the ground near the burning structure.
"I'm like, Mom, I can't, she's right there, I see her legs, I see her, I see her, mom, she's like, no, you can't go, [I] chop like this, I run," Bryant explained.
Bryant said he pushed a piece of furniture off of her before dragging her away from the fire.
"I just grab her by arms, and I'm just going backwards, and like my mom said, I don't know how I escaped with no burns or nothing. You can only thank the Lord above for that," Bryant said.
When asked what was going through his mind as he saw her on the ground, Bryant said the moment was not about him.
"I can't let this happen, not about me, it's about her," Bryant said.
Bryant said his connection to the woman made acting even more urgent.
"She was the first person welcoming us to the neighborhood when we moved in," Bryant said.
A second neighbor also jumped in to help and suffered injuries but is OK.
First responders said had the two men not acted, the woman may not have survived.
Neighbor Jerry Orent had windows blown out by the force of the explosion. He and other neighbors acknowledged the event has left a lasting impact beyond the physical damage.
"You would say, 'Man, that's the nicest guy [I] ever met, but every time you see somebody that does something like this, or this type of happening. There's something wrong with those people, you know. Hopefully, normal people don't blow up their house. So, if he did that, I don't know. I don't even know how to look at it. It's so sad,'" Orent said.
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