It’s seen in the news every week—young heroes that, despite danger and with courage, put others before themselves. Recently, three ‘Noles, Chris Lemon, Taquan Lemon, and Icquirious Jones saved a family from a burning building.

It was early Sunday morning, said sophomore Chris Lemon. The three boys were walking home from a party with some friends. They passed by a neighbor’s house, and one of the boys’ friends pointed out a bonfire taking place at the house.

Junior Taquan Lemon looked closely at the house, and quickly realized that that wasn’t a bonfire. A fire had started in a trashcan, causing a mattress to catch on fire, which in turn caused the fire on one side of the house.

Taquan Lemon’s brother Brandon went and knocked on the door to inform the family that their house was burning.

A woman answered the door, says Jones, a junior. After the boys told her the house was on fire, she raced back inside. “We followed her inside,” said Jones. “There were at least four or five little kids.”

When asked if they hesitated, Taquan Lemon and Jones both said that the decision did not involve emotion; they simply did what was right. Chris Lemon said he did hesitate for a moment, but when he saw the children that were trapped inside, he knew he had to help. “I have a goddaughter, and she’s around the same age and height as the kids in the house. I just thought of her.”

After the three boys and their two friends got the children out of the house, one of the women informed the boys that her parents were still trapped inside the house. By this time, the fire had spread, so it was too hot to go through the front door.

Jones went over to the side and broke a window to get into the living room. The parents managed to get out through the front door, but “they kept shouting Kayla! Kayla!” said Jones. Kayla is the sister of the woman who answered the door.

The boys split up trying to look for Kayla. Chris Lemon went to the front, and Jones said, “I went to the back, and I found her on the back side of the house.”

Once all the boys and occupants of the house got outside, a friend of Jones’s called the police. He was the only one whose cell phone wasn’t dead.

When asked why they did what they did, risking their own well-being, all three boys were humble about their actions. “I didn’t do it for pride or recognition,” said Jones.

The other boys agreed. “I just did what I would want anybody else would do,” said Taquan Lemon. Chris Lemon said the same.

“I have nieces and nephews. Taquan has nieces and nephews. Chris has nieces and nephews. There were kids in that house. We just did what was right.” Jones said.

This heroic act shows that spandex and capes aren’t what make a good hero; what makes a good hero is a good heart, something all three of these boys possess.