Nicholas Bostic entered the burning house twice, eventually escaping through an upstairs window while carrying a 6-year-old girl.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Nicholas Bostic was driving through a Lafayette neighborhood shortly after midnight when he saw a two-story home burning and stopped, setting off a rescue that brought five young people to safety and left him hospitalized with serious injuries.
Bostic, then a 25-year-old pizza delivery driver, spotted the fire at about 12:30 a.m. on July 11, 2022. He did not have his phone with him to call 911, so he went to the back of the house and entered after calling out to see whether anyone was inside. He eventually found four people upstairs and helped lead them outside before learning that a 6-year-old girl was still missing.
The people Bostic first encountered included an 18-year-old woman, two 13-year-old girls and a toddler. The 18-year-old was at home with her younger siblings, and one of the 13-year-olds was a friend spending the night. The children’s parents were away from the house when the fire began.
After getting the first four outside, Bostic went back into the home to search for the missing girl. Conditions inside had worsened as smoke and flames spread through the building. He searched the second-floor rooms before hearing the child below him and following her cries toward the main floor.
Bostic later told reporters that the smoke was so dense that he had difficulty seeing. He located the girl near the living room, picked her up and returned upstairs when he could not reach the door he had used earlier. He then went into a bedroom, broke an upstairs window and prepared to leave the house with the child.
Carrying the girl, Bostic jumped from the second-floor window to the ground. Police body-camera video recorded the immediate aftermath as he brought the child toward responding officers and emergency crews. The girl suffered a leg injury associated with the broken glass but recovered, according to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
Bostic suffered smoke inhalation, first- and second-degree burns and a serious cut to his right forearm. The Carnegie Hero Fund said he was initially in critical condition and spent three days in a hospital before recovering. Earlier police accounts also described severe smoke inhalation and a serious arm injury.
Lafayette officials publicly praised Bostic after the rescue. Police Lt. Randy Sherer said at the time that Bostic had acted before first responders reached the burning home. Authorities later announced plans to recognize him publicly for his actions.
The rescue received another formal acknowledgment in March 2023, when the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission named Bostic a recipient of the Carnegie Medal. The commission awards the medal to civilians who risk death or serious physical injury while saving or attempting to save others.
The commission’s account of the fire said the blaze began on the porch near the front door before spreading into the living room and eventually the upstairs bedrooms. Its findings documented Bostic’s two entries into the home, his search for the missing girl and his escape through the upstairs window.
Bostic and the 6-year-old both recovered from their injuries. His Carnegie Medal recognition remains a formal record of a rescue that began when a driver passing through a Lafayette neighborhood noticed flames and chose to stop.
Author note: Last updated August 14, 2026.