It was a quarter to midnight on a Saturday, and Chris Burbey, a natural gas fitter with We Energies in Franklin, Wisconsin, was just turning into his driveway after responding to a callout for an inside gas odor.
Burbey was ready for bed, but suddenly he went on high alert. He’d spotted a fire in the backyard of a home that backed up to his.
Neighbors in his subdivision often light backyard bonfires, but this fire didn’t look right. As he watched, the flames shot up, far too close to the house.
It took Burbey only seconds to grab his company wrench and fire extinguisher and run over to turn off the natural gas at the meter. Then he pounded on the front door: “Your house is on fire,” he shouted. “This is your neighbor and also the gas company. Get out!”
The neighbors, Brett and Patty Filkins, were asleep, and at first they thought Burbey was their daughter, making a racket downstairs coming home. But as Burbey continued to shout and pound, they fled the house just as the fire reached their bedroom deck.
Once they had safely exited, Patty called 911, and Brett helped Burbey extinguish the fire. Burbey stayed with the couple until 2 a.m. to help in any way he could—speaking with the fire department, checking the furnace and water heater, and giving moral support.
“It was a traumatic event, and he went above and beyond to help us,” Patty said. “Without him, my husband and I might not be here today.”
It turned out the fire had begun after the couple accidentally left the burner on a natural gas grill on low. The grill was stored in an outdoor bar area, where grease and later the surrounding wood paneling ignited. Firefighters reported that the fire only remained outside the house thanks to the second pane on the kitchen window—a pane that was close to breaking when Burbey arrived.
Burbey credits his quick response to We Energies’ training. “When it’s actually happening in front of you and [you’re] seeing it unfold, and you’re the only one who could make or break the deal—talk about just going into action and practicing what you’re taught,” he said. “I’m not patting myself on the back, but it was unbelievable how basically flawless it was, and it was that repetition, repetition that’s preached into us here at We Energies.
“The stars and moon all aligned. It could have been a very different outcome.”