COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mark Coleman was woken up by his dog around 4 a.m. on March 12 at his parent's house in Fremont, Ohio. The former UFC fighter recalled his room being unusually warm and thought he was having a nightmare.
Coleman headed to the kitchen to see what was happening and saw clouds of smoke. Still, he didn't realize what was happening. Not until he went to grab a doorknob and got third-degree burns. That's when he realized this was real.
“I realized the fire was everywhere inside the house. I immediately ran toward my mom and dad's bedroom and yelled at them about five times. They didn't respond. I got a sick feeling that they were dead or something,” Coleman said.
Coleman got his parents out of bed and walked his mom and dad down the hallway to get to safety but he lost sight of his mom.
"That was a sick, sick feeling. I told him 'Get outside, I'll go get her,'" Coleman said.
His mom has asthma and he feared the worst.
“I got lost and I thought to myself, 'She's not going to make it. I don't think we are going to make it',” Coleman explained.
He was able to get her out, then went back a third time to get his dog.
“No hesitation. It wasn't an option. To me that was the only option,” Coleman said.
But the smoke overcame him and he realized he had to save himself.
“I sat up and the smoke hit me hard and I realized I gotta go now. When I stood up I fell off. I almost went down right there,” he said.
Rescue crews flew him to a hospital in Toledo where he recovered for five days.
On Tuesday, he visited Columbus Fire Station 30 with an old wrestling buddy, better known as Columbus Fire Chief Jeff Happ.
"Knowing what he had to feel because we wear clothes, we wear fatigues and gear and masks. We feel comfortable when we are in those fires. I can't imagine what he was feeling at the intensity of the fire,” Happ said.
There were no working smoke detectors in Coleman's parents' home, something Coleman and his friend Happ are warning everyone else about.
“With early detection, early warning, catch the fires when they are small and alert the people inside the fires to get out,” Happ said.
“How important it is to check your batteries and have your fire detectors ready to roll in case this happens to you because tomorrow is not promised. It has a new meaning to me,” Coleman said.
If you or someone you know needs a smoke detector, you can call the smoke detector hotline for Columbus fire at 614-724-0935 for a free smoke detector.