Anthony Hinderliter was sitting in a Jeep playing the guitar on his 27th birthday when he noticed smoke and flames coming out of the windows of his neighbor’s home on Davis Drive early Wednesday.
Charles Harris lives in an apartment in the back part of building. Harris, who’s wheelchair-bound, ended up getting his chair stuck when he was trying to exit the home as it caught fire.
Harris told Clarksville Fire Rescue when they responded to his home just before 1 a.m. that Hinderliter had saved his life.
“I just did what I thought the God I serve would do,” Hinderliter told The Leaf-Chronicle.
When Clarksville Fire Rescue Stations responded, they saw heavy flames and smoke coming from the building, according to Assistant Chief Michael Rios.
Investigators discovered that Harris, 60, accidentally dropped a cigar while setting up his bed and the fire quickly spread.
Hinderliter initially rushed over with a fire extinguisher when he saw Harris, unlocked the wheels on the wheelchair and pulled Harris to safety, Rios said.
Hinderliter said the unfortunate experience was very familiar for him.
“He (Harris) felt the same thing I felt when my house burned down on Jan. 10. What’s next? I could see the worry in his face,’ Hinderliter said.
Hinderliter said his family trailer burned down after an electrical fire in Lyles, Tenn.
Although Harris is safe, all his belongings were lost in the fire. Hinderliter created a GoFundMe account for him, stating that having nothing is a horrible feeling and he wanted to do his best to help his neighbor.
“When you don’t have nobody … you feel so broken and I didn’t want him to feel like that,” Hinderliter said. “It broke my heart.”
Hinderliter will be recognized in a special ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday with Fire Chief Freddie Montgomery Jr., at CFR Station one on Main Street.
Visit Charles Harris’ GoFundMe if you would like to donate.
Here’s how to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/e2mnpq-hope-for-charlie?member=18545659&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
Alexis Clark can be reached at aclark@gannett.com.