Oregon Grandfather Rescues Woman From Burning Hotel During Morning Run

A 74-year-old man out for his routine morning run in Eugene, Oregon, saved a woman from a burning hotel room on February 28, dramatic video shows.

This footage was captured by Greg Spike, a grandfather to 16 kids, who began recording when he saw smoke and flames coming from the Valley River Inn. When he got closer, he heard a woman scream for help from the second-floor balcony of the inn.

“I said, ‘Get out of there, get out of there, get out of there!’ And she said, ‘I can’t, I can’t, there’s smoke in the hallway’,” Spike told local media.

Spike put down his phone when he went to encourage the woman to jump. According to TV station KMTR, Spike ran up to the bottom of her balcony, holding up his hands to her feet, and told her to jump on him so he could break her landing.

The woman can be heard crying in the video. “She said, ‘Oh, my God, you saved my life!’ And then I ran off,” Spike said.

Spike suffered only bruised ribs, local media said.

According to the local fire department, the incident was a three-alarm fire and crews brought it under control by the afternoon. No injuries were reported in the fire, but the building suffered “a partial roof collapse and extensive damage,” they said.

The cause was being investigated, officials added. Credit: Greg Spike via Storyful