Last weekend, a 22-year-old Delaware police officer assisted six people in escaping a raging home fire in Dewey Beach, which victims and officials believe could have turned deadly if it hadn’t been for his efforts.

Officer John “Jack” Kane of the Dewey Beach Police Department told WPVI that he was on patrol on Coastal Highway at 3 a.m. He observed smoke in the air on Saturday.

According to WPVI, while investigating the smoke, he noticed an orange light coming from a structure and rushed to the conflagration on Bayard Avenue and Swedes Street, where he discovered four automobiles still outside of a blazing residence. He notified a volunteer department and went to work.

“With no one standing outside and no one calling 911 yet, I knew I had to act quickly because people were still in the house,” Kane stated. Because the fire was so hot, he couldn’t get inside the house from the front, so he hurried around to the rear.

He assisted six individuals in escaping the house, and no one was critically harmed in the fire that destroyed three homes. Kane’s actions, according to Rehoboth Beach Fire Chief Chuck Snyder, saved lives.

Allison Diller, who escaped the raging fire with her dog, believes that no one would have survived if not for functional fire alarms, kind neighbors, and Kane’s quick actions.

In a Facebook post, former President of the Delaware State Fire Chiefs Association Steven Deery praised the 22-year-old.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated by authorities.