Man Ran Into Burning Middletown Home, Saves Dog: Hear His Story

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Tuesday afternoon, a house fire occurred in the River Plaza section of Middletown, and several people passing by ran into the burning home to save the dog.

Now on Wednesday, Patch has located one of the people who ran into the burning home and pulled the dog to safety, likely saving the animal's life.

"I had just got off work that morning and was doing some errands. I had to go by my girlfriend's house in River Plaza to drop off some things," said Tyler Hubeny, 33, who lives in Tinton Falls. "All of a sudden, I see this other driver just stop in the middle of the street and run out of his car. I was like, 'What is this dude doing?' Then I looked and saw a house was on fire."

It was just past 2 p.m. on the 400 block of West Front Street. Flames were coming from the left side of the single-story wooden home.

Hubeny is actually employed as a professional firefighter with the city of Bayonne. He said he quickly parked and ran up the front steps to the burning home.

"The fire was contained to the outside of the house, but you could see it growing," he said. "There was a woman and what looked to be her 17-year-old son who had also pulled over and were on the property. I ran into the house to make sure nobody was inside; it is just instinct to me."

Hubeny said unbeknownst to him, the 17-year-old was already inside the house and when he ran into the living room, he found the teen carrying a dog inside a crate outside.

"I ran to help him. I was like, 'Come on, let's do this.'" He said the dog appeared to be a mid-sized hunting dog and appeared uninjured or unharmed. He also said there was no smoke or flames inside the home when they pulled the dog out.

Hubeny said the teen stayed with the dog on the front yard, and he actually ran back inside to make sure the house was totally empty, and to close all the home's interior doors.

"Yes, not many people know to do this, but you should do that to make sure the fire has nothing to feed on," he explained. "It really can help prevent the fire from spreading inside a home and causing even more damage."

But Hubeny said when he went inside the second time, smoke had started to come into the living room and fill the home's eves and ceiling area.

The homeowners were not home at the time of the fire, he said. He said as long as he remained on the scene they never showed up. A cause of the fire has not been determined by Middletown firefighters, but the fire appears to have started outside the home.

He said he still would like to locate the 17-year-old teen who ran into the burning home before he did, as the young man is a hero.

"He was just a kid. I couldn't believe it when I found him in there," he said. "I come from a family of cops, firefighters and nurses. I just did what came naturally in that moment."

Initial report: Dog Rescued From Middletown House Fire Tuesday Afternoon (Aug. 30)

Correction: It did not take Middletown volunteer fire trucks "10-15 minutes" to arrive at the scene of the fire, as Hubeny recollected. The first fire truck was there in just over 5 minutes, corrected the Middletown Fire Department. Patch apologizes for the error.