But then, most strangers haven't been through something like this together. With the suspense of a Hollywood thriller the drama played out in front of a doorbell camera as a fire began to engulf a home.
[Ads /]
Haily "Moss" Strong spotted the fire from about a mile away and drove toward the flames at 1 a.m. on July 5, WLWT reported.
"You guys, garage is on fire," Strong could be heard saying on Ring camera footage.
When she arrived, she knew she had to help, but there was something she didn't know. Everyone in the Elliot-Downing family was inside. It was 11 people, including nine children. As fire destroyed one side, smoke detectors were not going off. No one inside knew they were in danger.
SEE ALSO | 3 injured, 2 critically, in Little Village fire, CFD says
"I didn't know how many people were in the house, let alone there were that many kids," Strong said. "I can see that I'm scared. I don't remember feeling as scared as I look in the video. I just remember thinking I got to get these people out of here. I've got to get them across the street."
Josh Ellis and Brittany Downing are the children's parents.
[Ads /]
"She stood there in the face of the fire and didn't move," Ellis said. "She saved our lives because we didn't smell it until that moment, but the house was already ablaze."
Everyone got out okay, and that's why when these strangers got together for the first time since the fire.
"All of the other outcomes that could have happened if she wouldn't have stopped and knocked on the door. I don't know if me and him would be here today for them kids," Downing said.
"That's an angel," Ellis said.
(The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)