If he had run back into the house to get the pets, and become disabled inside, I think the FD would have come in after him.
My pets are like my kids. I would run back into the house to get them.
But then again, I learned very early that you ALWAYS pay your insurance. And paying fire dues is insurance.
Are you willing to bet your life on that? Until I heard this story I would have thought that anywhere there was a fire there would be a fireman fighting it. One of my friends is a fireman, to hear him talk I can't imagine him and the guys he works with being able to stand by under any circumstances. Remember 9/11 (talk about rhetorical questions) and every fireman in the country heading for NYC without even thinking about it?
Our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor, not because of what others may do, but because of ourselves.