Heroic Passerby Rescues Five Kids From Burning House in Indiana

A man rescued five children from a burning house in Lafayette, Indiana, on July 11 after he came across the scene before first responders arrived, according to police.

Nicholas Bostic, 25, entered the home alone after he drove by the flaming house and saw there were no emergency vehicles present. Inside he found four sleeping children, ranging in age from 1 to 18, and was able to help them escape from the house, according to the statement he gave police.

But after the initial rescue, he discovered that a 6-year-old was still inside the house. At that point he ran back into the house and was able to find the last child. Due to the accumulation of smoke at that point and low visibility, Bostic had no choice but to jump with the child from the second-floor window.

This bodycam footage released by the Lafayette Police shows Bostic emerging from the property visibly distressed, with the wailing child in his arms. He suffered from severe smoke inhalation and a “grave” cut on his right arm that required him to be flown to Indianapolis, according to a press release.

Bostic will be honored by the city in a ceremony on August 2, the press release said. Credit: Lafayette Police Department via Storyful

Video transcript

- Hey, officer.

- Yeah?

- That car right there, somebody pulled in to let them know their house is on fire. I saw him around back. That's the last time I've seen him.

- OK. Hey, guys, 6-year-old girl and a 23-year-old male still missing in the house somewhere.

- What do you?

- Got 6-year-old female and a 23-year-old male possibly inside. Guys, come here. Come here.

- Any people in the house?

- Come here. Come here. Are you [? Xavien? ?]

NICHOLAS BOSTIC: That's everybody.

- Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. We need medics. Come with me, man.

Come with me. Come with me. We got to get away from the house. Hey, we got to get away from the house, OK?

- It's OK, baby. You're OK.

- [INAUDIBLE]

- [INAUDIBLE] crank it.

NICHOLAS BOSTIC: Is the baby OK? Please tell me that baby is OK.

- Yeah, we're good.

- She's OK. Yeah, she's OK.

NICHOLAS BOSTIC: 100%?

- Yep, you're OK.

- She's OK.

- You did good, dude.