Teen Jumps 6-Foot Fence to Save Woman from House Fire (video)

A Mother’s Day golf outing turned into a scene of panic, smoke and shattered glass when a 17-year-old Iowa high school student spotted a nearby home going up in flames — and ran straight toward the danger.

Marek Dessimoz, a junior at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, was at Hyperion Field Club in Johnston with his family on Sunday, May 10, when they noticed smoke pouring from a nearby house.

While his mother, Agnieszka Pieta, called for help and his father, Douglas Kaye, dialed 911, Marek made a split-second decision.

He jumped a 6-foot fence and rushed toward the burning home.

“I gotta go help out,” Marek later told the Des Moines Register, recalling the moment instinct took over.

Once he reached the house, the teenager began pounding on the windows, desperate to find out if anyone was trapped inside.

“I started knocking on the windows, like, hitting as hard as I could and seeing if someone was there,” he told KCRG.

Then he saw the homeowner, believed to be Shari Stone, near the front of the home.

By that point, the fire was already raging. Flames had consumed the balcony, smoke detectors were blaring, and the situation was getting more dangerous by the second.

An Amazon driver also arrived and joined Marek in urging the woman to get out immediately.

“The lady opens the door, and an Amazon worker also comes, and we tell her to come out of the house, ’cause there’s nothing you can do at that point,” Marek told the Des Moines Register. “The full balcony was enflamed.”

Moments later, the terrifying scene became even more explosive.

A liquid propane tank connected to a gas grill blew up as the fire spread.

“You could hear the windows shatter from the other side of the home and a big boom,” Marek recalled. “And the fire grew bigger.”

Despite the growing flames, the homeowner reportedly wanted to go back inside to rescue her cat. Marek and the Amazon worker had to convince her not to reenter the burning house.

Fire crews from the Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District soon arrived, along with crews from nearby cities. The blaze began around 7:30 p.m. and took more than an hour to put out.

Thankfully, the homeowner made it out safely. Her cat was later found alive in the basement.

Fire Chief Percy Coleman said Marek’s quick action made a real difference.

Dessimoz “absolutely contributed to saving her life and getting her to safety,” Coleman told the Des Moines Register.

For Marek’s mother, the teenager’s brave act was more than enough to make Mother’s Day unforgettable.

“He is my superhero. Yes, my superhero and the best Mother’s Day gift you can give,” Pieta told KCRG.

Marek, however, is staying humble.

“I’ve never thought anyone has called me a hero,” he told the Des Moines Register. “I think everyone who was there and helped in general… I wasn’t the individual hero.”

Officials said the fire started on the home’s balcony, though investigators are still working to determine the cause. Coleman said the house was a total loss after the inferno.

“Investigators are just trying to figure out what might have started it,” he said.