Woman, parrot are fine after house blaze BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer A firefighter in training ran into this burning house to save a woman trapped inside. MIDDLETOWN- Running into a burning building to rescue someone is something firefighters do every day. William Kacen did that last Wednesday, except he's not a firefighter, at least not yet. Kacen, 36, a probationary firefighter, is a private contractor who was working in the area of a house fire and headed to the scene in his own vehicle. Upon seeing a woman re-enter the twostory home engulfed in flames, Kacen didn't hesitate and entered the house at 38WashingtonAve. "All in all, there really wasn't much to think about," Kacen said. "I was helping someone in need, so I ran in there." Kacen is currently training to become a member of the Community Fire Company but acted in a way that a seasoned firefighter would, according toMiddletown Fire Department spokesmanAndy Spears. "He didn't place himself in any extreme danger," Spears said. "If it was his own neighbor, I believe he would have done the same thing." Kacen heard a woman screaming from the second floor, and when he entered the room he saw the woman was on her cell phone. The woman, according to Kacen, was panicking and was not cooperating with his verbal commands to stand up and get out of the burning house. He said he then grabbed the woman and pulled her to the stairwellwhere the two fell down the flight of stairs to the first floor. "Once the fire starts you are not in control of the situation," Kacen said. "You are basically overcome with adrenaline." Unharmed and with the woman passed out fromthe fumes,Kacen pulled her out the front door and carried her across the street with the help of William Senn, a firefighter from the Community Company. After regaining consciousness, the woman refused medical attention and walked away unharmed. The fire was extinguished in an hour by a total of 60 firefighters from Navesink, Brevent Park, Belford Engine, Community, Port Monmouth and Belford Independent fire companies. Members of the Middletown Fire Department'sAirUnit, Middletown Fire Police and all sixMiddletown first-aid squads also responded. According to Spears, the house was destroyed along with two vehicles parked in front of 36WashingtonAve. The neighboring home would have sustained considerable damage, according to Spears, if not for its aluminum siding. "Any other kind of barrierwould have totally damaged the home," Spears said. "That made a huge difference." Kacen said hemet with the family of the woman he saved the following day and was met with hugs, tears and many thanks. "They came up to me and couldn't stop saying 'thank you,'"Kacen said. "Itwas very emotional." Also saved in the fire was the woman's pet parrot,whowas in its cage on the second floor and was the reason the woman had reentered the house. Though Kacen did not have a hand in saving the parrot, he said the parrot, too, was unharmed. "They managed to get the parrot in its cage all the way to the front door, where the cage eventually broke, but was grabbed to safety," Kacen said. "The parrot is fine."