Kenneth Doyal,

a rookie firefighter with the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency

Services, had just graduated from firefighting class the day before.

But a quick

test of his firefighting instincts revealed his willingness to put his

life in danger to save others. The proof came when he happened upon a

large house fire in Henry County while driving along the interstate with

his fiancee, Stacey Randazzo, just before Christmas.

When Doyal

got there, the entire rear of the structure was engulfed in flames.

There were

dogs barking inside the home.

No fire crews

in sight.

And his turnout

gear was elsewhere.

Still, Doyal

decided to charge into the house to let the dogs out. He burst open the

front door, and the smoke billowed out.

Once the smoke

cleared, he spotted a man lying on the floor, unconscious.

Doyal made

two unsuccessful attempts to rescue the man. Two bystanders assisted on

the third try while parts of the roof began to fall nearby and the rescue

was complete.

A minute later,

the room "flashed over" as the excessive heat caused everything

to ignite. That minute was the difference between Doyal living and dying.

"I wasn't

thinking about it at the time," Doyal said when asked about the potential

danger. He noticed the room get bright, one of the signs a flashover is

imminent a fact he picked up in firefighter training.

Soon after

the victim was removed from the home, Henry County fire trucks arrived

on the scene and knocked down the flames. Doyal pitched in, helping set

up the hoses, but not before Randazzo took a moment to express her anger

that he'd taken such risks.

"I think

she took a swing at me," Doyal said with a chuckle. "And she

said a few choice words and freaked out a little bit more."

The two are

still engaged, Doyal happily reported.

"She's

seen me fight car fires by myself," said Doyal, who is also a volunteer

with the McDonough Fire Department. "She's just never seen me run

into a burning house."

Doyal's only

injury came after the fire, when he got a paper cut filling out paperwork

after the incident. The fire training helped him stay calm and be as safe

as possible, he added.

Unfortunately,

Doyal's heroic actions came too late to save the fire victim. And he doesn't

know if the dogs ever made it out.

He does know,

however, that he did the best he could. Particularly given the difficult

circumstances.

And that's

all the comfort a firefighter can expect in this type of situation.

"I did

what I could," he said. "Any other firefighter would have done

the same thing."