Joliet teen alerts neighbors to house fire
By Janet Lundquist jlundquist@stmedianetwork.com July 26, 2012 7:38PM
Jayme Hendry (right) looks at her son Jaymes, 15, (left) as the two stand at the scene of the aftermath of a neighbor's fire in the 2400 block of E. Cass St. Thursday, July 26, 2012, in Joliet Township. Jaymes heard glass breaking at 3:30 am Wednesday, and when he looked out his bedroom window, he saw his neighbor's house on fire. He alerted his parents and all three where able to get the neighbors out safely. | Matthew Grotto~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: August 28, 2012 6:18AM
It could be said that, if not for Jaymes Hendry, there could have been a fatal fire in Joliet this week.
Instead, there are two people with a burned-out house who are lucky to be alive.
The 15-year-old sophomore at Lincoln-Way West High School was at home in the 2500 block of Cass Street around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday playing video games with a friend when he heard glass shattering.
He looked outside and saw his neighbors’ house going up in flames.
Hendry said he ran downstairs, woke up his parents, Jayme and Paul Hendry, then ran next door and started banging on the neighbors’ door.
“We just kept banging on the door” for several minutes before the older couple came to the door, he said. “They didn’t even know the fire was going on ... they thought the house was getting broken into.”
Trucks from the New Lenox Fire Protection District arrived moments later, along with support from several area fire departments.
The fire, which started in a back area of the house, burned through the roof, New Lenox Fire Chief Jon Mead said. The cause still is under investigation.
Mead confirmed that the Hendry family was able to wake the residents and said nobody, firefighters or bystanders, was injured.
“I’m very proud of him. The courage he showed was unbelievable,” Jayme Hendry said. “We weren’t going to give up until the people got out of the house. As soon as we got them away from the house, it just went up in flames.”
The fire rendered the house unlivable, Mead said.
Jayme Hendry said the residents are staying in a hotel.
This isn’t the first time Jaymes Hendry has showed courage in the face of danger, his mother said.
Four years ago, he flung himself on the back of a burglar who had broken into their house while everyone was sleeping and was fighting with his father.
“He was 11 years old at the time and he jumped on this man’s back and saved my husband,” Jayme said, adding that the burglar is serving time in prison for that and other crimes. “(Jaymes) started punching the guy and jumped on him. Even then he just showed massive courage.”
