Pool technician saves elderly couple from fire in Collier County

Reporter: Justin Kase Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:

A pool technician jumped into action and helped the elderly couple to safety when he saw smoke billowing from a home.

The fire started in the garage at a home along Caldecott Drive in Collier County.

When Mukhesh Lopez realized what was going on, he dropped all of his things and rushed inside.

Lopez said he has worked at that home before and knew there was an elderly couple who lived there.

Up until his heroic actions, it was a normal day for Lopez. “I was cleaning one of the filters, doing, you know, my daily.”

That is when Lopez saw a neighbor was pointing at the home where he was working. “Some gentleman was out on the street pointing at it. Like, he couldn’t believe it so he was pointing at it.”

The neighbor was pointing at the smoke coming from the car in the garage before it caught fire.

“I kind of know who is kind of there usually. And I noticed two elderly people and a young gentleman. So, I knew there was always three for sure,” said Lopez.

His instincts kicked in and he ran inside to help get the elderly couple out.

“The lady, she had fallen by the door. So, my first thing was to try to get her up. She was over almost out the door. So, once she was out, my second thing was to see where the man was at because he’s older too.”

Lopez then called 911 and ran into the garage to try and put out the fire.

“It slowed it down just for a couple seconds and then it just came right back up. So, then we got another fire extinguisher, slowed it down just a bit, and then it came right back up.”

Lopez said he then got everyone back and moved multiple vehicles out of the way so fire crews had a clear path to the home.

“I just did that by instinct. I would expect anyone else to do the same if that was my family’s situation.”

WINK News spoke with the elderly couple’s grandson who said they were too shaken up to speak about what happened, but said they will thank those who helped them when they’re ready.

Lopez’s manager also got very emotional when speaking to WINK News saying she doesn’t know how the situation would have turned out if Lopez wasn’t in the right place at the right time.

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