City to Honor Heroes of Lemon Heights Fire

The city is preparing to honor four citizens who assisted residents of Lemon Heights, in some cases saving property and valuables, during the fire that tore through the area last week.

Saying that the four represent just some of the non-firefighter heroes of the Oct. 21 blaze, the city on Monday will publicly recognize John Boland, Scott Byington, Steven DeMont and Nathan Silva for their efforts.

The blaze destroyed 10 homes and damaged 23 other structures, causing about $3.5 million in damages.

“This fire would have done a lot more damage if it weren’t for these people,” Mayor Tracy Wills Worley said Wednesday. “They risked their lives for people they didn’t know.”

Silva, a landscape architect, was working in the neighborhood with his staff of three gardeners when the fire, sparked by a downed power line, began to jump from house to house. Without hesitation, Silva climbed up on rooftops to extinguish sparks and smaller fires before they could spread.

Byington, a former volunteer firefighter, was driving through the area when he saw smoke. Along with Silva, Byington went from rooftop to rooftop, wetting shingles with garden hoses in an effort to contain the blaze.

Boland also worked with residents to fight the flames.

“They were responsible for saving a handful of houses themselves,” Worley said. “When they got there, there were no firemen on the scene yet.”

DeMont was dressed in a business suit and driving through the area when he saw smoke and rushed to help, Worley said. He helped save a number of vehicles, Worley said, in some cases breaking windows to disengage parking gears so he could push the cars and trucks out of harm’s way.

“We’re happy we can honor these men, but there were a lot more people that gave their services and just disappeared with no pat on the back,” Worley said. “They didn’t have to do this. We would love to thank them all.”