Ring doorbell captures dramatic video of disabled man barely escaping Nebraska house fire

AUBURN, Neb. (WOWT/Gray News) - A disabled man barely escaped a house fire in Auburn, Nebraska, before the entire house went up in flames.

The man is OK, but one of three dogs sadly died, according to WOWT.

Dramatic video captured on a Ring camera early Sunday morning as Jerry Snider, who had his leg amputated in December, falls from his wheelchair escaping the blaze. Snider said he heard glass breaking above his head.

“The police showed up and helped him out and we tried telling them about the dogs. We could hear them barking, but then the officers had to move back. That’s when the porch collapsed and the footage ended,” he said.

The Ring camera notified Snider’s daughter, Shawnee Snider, about the fire. Her husband, Eric Yost, was able to talk with Jerry Snider through the Ring camera.

“He kind of threw himself off the porch, police showed up and helped him out... but then the officers had to move back because the porch collapsed and that’s when the footage ended,” Shawnee Snider said.

To make matters worse, Jerry Snider’s family was out of town. Shawnee Snider and Yost took their two children to Mount Rushmore for vacation on Friday.

Jerry Snider lived with the couple awaiting disability benefits from his amputation.

“I was trying to get a sense of how bad it was,” he said.

During the long drive to Auburn from the Black Hills, Yost was learning more about the fire.

“The whole time I was driving I got updates from multiple people so I kind of knew what I was rolling up on when I did get here,” he said. “I almost felt like maybe it was a dream ... just to be woke up and see that on your phone and then worry about how bad it is. I didn’t think I’d ever be standing in this position.”

Once they saw Jerry Snider was safe, concern shifted to the dogs. A family friend joined in the search.

“She heard whimpering in the back door, the back door led to the basement and we went down there with a flashlight and we found one of the dogs alive,” Shawnee Snider said.

During the fire, two of the three dogs ran into the basement; one of those two didn’t make it. Meanwhile, the third dog was running around, and no one could catch him.

“They said the firefighters had to shoo him from the back door because he was out here for hours and hours trying to get back into that house,” Shawnee Snider said. “We believe he knew those two dogs were in that basement.”

The surviving dog stuck it out in the basement for almost 12 hours, somehow surviving the smoke and fire.

The house was a total loss, and all of the possessions inside are gone.

“I’m thankful that he’s OK and at least we found one of the dogs — that she was down in the basement and maybe away from some of the smoke and stuff,” Shawnee Snider said.

Yost said he will rebuild on the property.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Yost-Snider family.

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