A Michigan father is recovering from severe burns after running back into his burning home to save his young daughter, according to his family.
Both the man and the child survived and are now being treated for their injuries, though relatives say he faces a difficult recovery ahead.
Firefighters were dispatched to a house fire in the village of Middleville at 8:36 a.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 21, Thornapple Township Emergency Services said in a news release. First responders arrived within three minutes, but the home could not be saved.
Images shared by ABC affiliate WZZM show the structure reduced to charred debris.
Michelle Holsey told WZZM that everyone inside managed to get out — thanks in part to her fiancé, John Biermaker — until they realized one child was still missing.
Holsey was the first to recognize the danger, according to a GoFundMe created to help the family after the fire left them without a home. The fundraiser says Biermaker woke to Holsey’s screams and helped get everyone outside, except for his daughter, Cali, who had been asleep upstairs.
When they couldn’t find her, Biermaker rushed back in, the donation page states.
“We didn’t see Cali, so he just didn’t think twice,” Holsey told WZZM. “Just booked it up the hot stairs. He said he kept falling once he got her, kept tripping down the stairs.”
Both father and daughter are now in intensive care, according to the GoFundMe. The fundraiser states that more than half of Biermaker’s body is covered in second- and third-degree burns. Cali is being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.
The fundraiser describes Biermaker’s outlook as a “very, very long recovery.”
“Cali is better off than John,” Holsey told WZZM. “She has only 16.5% of her body burned, and she’s doing well. She’s just sleepy today, but not in pain or nothing. So that’s good.”
“But John, he’s in a lot of pain his face and he is more wrapped up than she is,” Holsey added.
Holsey also told WZZM she was informed that an animal may have fallen into the chimney, which could have affected the fireplace — in use at the time — and contributed to the fire spreading through the home.
Thornapple Township Emergency Services and the family did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
As the holidays approach, the Biermakers are coping with major loss, but Holsey said they’re grateful for Biermaker’s decision to go back inside.
“A hero, a dad, a true man!” the GoFundMe organizer wrote. “John, you are the strongest person I know. Cali is alive because you didn’t give up. You walked through fire for your child.”
