BRIDGEPORT -
A story out of Bridgeport is making national headlines. Various news outlets are reporting a bride charged into a burning home, pulling a family to safety while still in her wedding dress. However, this story is proving to be more fiction than fact.
Although there was a bride and she was helpful, Lowell Eitelberg says there are a slew of other facts that are in his words, "embellished".
Here's the real story. The fire started Sunday night while Lowell was playing video games. "I started to smell smoke and I really didn't think much of it. All I knew was that I should get the dog outside so he doesn't start to cough."
While various news organizations report a bride came "charging through a thick curtain of smoke in a wedding dress", Lowell says that never happened. He was already outside when the concerned bride and neighbor Georgette Clemons, pulled up to the house after leaving her wedding reception. She was the first person to see flames.
Lowell thought the smoke was from something burning in the kitchen, but he says Georgette proved it was much more. "She pointed out to me that the house was on fire."
Georgette's mother visited the family today to apologize for all the hype. She says her daughter is embarrassed she was painted as such a hero. Lowell says "she's upset, that's why she was unavailable to comment todayÂ…she doesn't want to be played off as a hero in that respect if that's not what she did."
Georgette did help in other ways, giving the family water and a temporary place to stay throughout the ordeal. For those reasons alone, the Eitelberg family is grateful. "I'm just happy that we all got out with our lives,"
The family and all their pets are doing fine. They will be staying in a hotel for the next few weeks until they find another semi-permanent residence. FOX61 contacted the Connecticut Post who first ran the story ("Bride Says 'I Do' To Saving Family") but they have not responded.
Although there was a bride and she was helpful, Lowell Eitelberg says there are a slew of other facts that are in his words, "embellished".
Here's the real story. The fire started Sunday night while Lowell was playing video games. "I started to smell smoke and I really didn't think much of it. All I knew was that I should get the dog outside so he doesn't start to cough."
While various news organizations report a bride came "charging through a thick curtain of smoke in a wedding dress", Lowell says that never happened. He was already outside when the concerned bride and neighbor Georgette Clemons, pulled up to the house after leaving her wedding reception. She was the first person to see flames.
Lowell thought the smoke was from something burning in the kitchen, but he says Georgette proved it was much more. "She pointed out to me that the house was on fire."
Georgette's mother visited the family today to apologize for all the hype. She says her daughter is embarrassed she was painted as such a hero. Lowell says "she's upset, that's why she was unavailable to comment todayÂ…she doesn't want to be played off as a hero in that respect if that's not what she did."
Georgette did help in other ways, giving the family water and a temporary place to stay throughout the ordeal. For those reasons alone, the Eitelberg family is grateful. "I'm just happy that we all got out with our lives,"
The family and all their pets are doing fine. They will be staying in a hotel for the next few weeks until they find another semi-permanent residence. FOX61 contacted the Connecticut Post who first ran the story ("Bride Says 'I Do' To Saving Family") but they have not responded.
