‘It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in real life’: Neighbor attempts daring rescue in deadly West Jordan house fire

The following article contains graphic information involving severe bodily harm, domestic violence, and death. Reader discretion is advised.

WEST JORDAN, Utah (

ABC4) — A bystander rescued a dog from a house fire in West Jordan that killed four people last week. Now, he’s sharing his experience about what happened inside the home.

On Friday, July 18, just after 10 a.m., a house near 8200 South and 6400 West became engulfed in flames. 

Robert Harlow, a neighbor of the family who tragically passed away, was on his way home from work when he noticed a large plume of black smoke. Rather than ignore it, Harlow decided to go to the source of the smoke where he found a home fully engulfed in flames. Fire crews had yet to arrive on scene.

“It’s been a roller coaster of emotions,” Harlow said.

When Harlow arrived, he found a young girl, later identified by the family as Yorgina, 14, burned head-to-toe trying to escape the flames by crawling to the neighbor’s yard.

“I just remember her eyes were burned shut,” Harlow told ABC4. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in real life.”

Rescuing the dog

Harlow says a number of other neighbors were there helping the girl, so he decided to enter the flaming home and search for survivors. He recalls running into the house screaming for anyone who could hear him, when he noticed a banging sound close by.

“I reached down, and I felt a dog on some stairs, trapped behind a child’s gate,” Harlow said. “I ripped the gate out of the wall, grabbed the dog and took it out to the front yard. I felt like it was taking its last breaths.”

Harlow, a self-identified animal lover, remembers leaving the dog with a group of bystanders before going back into the burning home.

“As much as I wanted to go in and do more, there comes a point where it’s not possible,” Harlow told ABC4. He also remembered another individual inside the home with him. Harlow described the man as his “saving grace” because he wouldn’t let him stay inside the smoke-filled house.

Soon after, the dog was able to recover.

Harlow’s own injuries

Harlow would later be treated in the emergency room for smoke-inhalation and elevated carbon dioxide (CO). According to Harlow, nurses measured his CO levels at 9%, which is much higher than safe levels.

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, normal ranges for CO in adults is 2%.

“I actually found out that three people died while I was in the ER on oxygen, and I just broke down in tears,” Harlow said.

Healing and justice

Despite having trouble sleeping in the nights since the fire, Harlow says connecting with the family of the victims has been a healing experience.

“There’s a bit of a language barrier, but hugs and handshakes are universal. So, it was very healing,” Harlow told ABC4.

On Monday, Anaís Bravo confirmed her sister, Jaimar Bravo Gil, 33, and her two kids were killed in Friday’s fiery attack. The family identified Jaimar’s two kids as a boy, Juliano, 9, and a girl, Yorgina, 14.

The family also identified Jaimar’s husband, and the father of the deceased children, as Yordano Valencias Pina. Jaimar’s surviving family says he had shown signs of violent behavior against the family for years.

Bravo told ABC4 Monday that she believes Pina started the fire. West Jordan Police confirmed it in a press release on Tuesday.

While investigators have yet to confirm who they believe started the blaze, West Jordan Police Department has determined the fire to be an intentional act of arson. Crews found a fire accelerant during the course of the investigation.

Harlow says he, and many others, are awaiting the findings from the police investigation in order to provide some element of closure.