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Husband escapes house fire with just one member of the family leaving wife and 4 kids behind — sparks fury among women everywhere

When the fire broke out, the husband evacuated through the front door, while his wife rushed upstairs to pick up their four children.
PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO
(L ) An apartment caught on fire ; (R) A woman evacuating a building caught on fire, with her children (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Erik Von Weber ; (R) .shock)
(L ) An apartment caught on fire ; (R) A woman evacuating a building caught on fire, with her children (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Erik Von Weber ; (R) .shock)

When disasters strike, people often prioritize evacuating women and children first. An Indianapolis resident's decision has come under scrutiny after his house caught fire. His wife had left an unattended candle in the living room, which led to their apartment catching fire. However, during the escape, the husband chose to evacuate with another loved family member and left his wife and four children behind. Shared by @herefaux on Threads on February 1, 2026, the post sparked massive backlash from women, although some online users had a different take on the situation.

The Threads user took to her account to share news from the Indianapolis Fire Department, which detailed an ordeal that took place at a house on Priscilla Avenue. The official handle revealed that the wife had left an unattended candle in the living room, which later caused a heavy fire inside their apartment. According to their report, when the fire broke out, the husband evacuated through the front door along with their dog, while his wife rushed upstairs to pick up their four children, who are aged 1, 5, 8, and 10. 

Man cuddling with his dog on the couch at home - Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Westend61
Man cuddling with his dog on the couch at home. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Westend61)

The woman also alerted her 28-year-old sister, who, along with the four children, exited from a rear door. Investigators found combustible materials around the candle, which led to the massive fire. Although the family escaped without any injuries, the fire department's post drew massive backlash from internet users, especially women who criticized the man for prioritizing his dog over his wife and children.

A burning house. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | flashpoint)
A burning house. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | flashpoint)

The user, who shared the update, wrote in the caption, "I'll just leave this here for the young women to contemplate. When we try to tell you all what it's like, we are serious." The post sparked a debate over the incident, with most users criticizing his choice to save his animal over his children. Interestingly, some also suspect that it was the man who may have left the candle unattended, suggesting his wife could have been occupied caring for the children.

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Pixabay
Firefighters at work. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Pixabay)

@lostwitacause wrote, "You know what's puzzling, there are thousands of stories of men saving strangers, and these aren't indicative of good traits. A post of an obvious coward is somehow indicative of men's shortcomings. The Indianapolis Fire Dept. is 94% men, by the way. Be critical of the man involved, that's expected, but to delight in garnering ammo for your campaign of hate says a lot about your character."

(Image Source: Threads | @agua_claro_plumeria3
(Image Source: Threads | @agua_claro_plumeria3)

@heather.hopefully commented, "Good for that fire dept. for putting him on blast though." @wicked_wisdom wrote, "'The man evacuated through the front door with the dog, and the woman ran upstairs to grab the four children.' This is the only thing I needed to see. I would have located a divorce lawyer that day and started proceedings."

For more such interesting content, follow @herefaux on Threads.

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