When a blaze tore through Maxine Dunivant?s home, she was sure she would die.
The elderly widow could feel the flames engulfing her one-story, wooden home, and the smoke, she thought, was going to choke her to death.
If not for her son, she may have been right.
Keith Dunivant, 41, was staying with his mother Monday when the fire started.
It was about 1 a.m. when firefighters got the call for Maxine?s home on the 2900 block of Dumblin Road in Street.
When Keith awoke, the noise was deafening, he said.
“I kept screaming, ?The house is on fire!? ” Keith said. “I put Mom in her wheelchair, took her out the front door and raced her across the back lawn to my house.”
It took 40 firefighters from the Darlington, Bel Air, Level, Whiteford and Delta departments nearly one hour to get the one-alarm fire under control, officials said.
The blaze, however, caused $225,000 in damage to the house and $100,000 in damage to property inside, the state fire marshal?s office said.
The fire caused major damage to the home, and Maxine, who suffered a stroke in April 2007 and needs around-the-clock-care, is staying with family members, said Joseph Zurolo, deputy state fire marshal.
The fire started on the home?s back porch, but investigators have not determined a cause, Zurolo said.
Maxine credited her son with saving her life.
“He?s my hero,” Maxine said. “He saved my life. Thank God he was with me.”
WJZ-13 contributed to this report.
