Woman realizes family of 18 is trapped inside burning house and risks her life by breaking in

Although "Memorial Day" is a day to remember the brave warriors who paid the maximum price for the freedom of the United States, many just and a day off.

But a woman from Oregon showed all the courage of the bravest soldiers in the United States on May 28. Around 5:30 a.m., Kelly Walrath was driving through a section of northeastern Portland, as reported by Liftable.

Kelly Walrath was driving by the apartment building in the 1400 block of NE 108th Avenue near Halsey when suddenly; she saw one of the most terrifying things that any spectator could imagine: flames coming out of a multi-family residential property.

But instead of being paralyzed or waiting for emergency services, Walrath took matters into his own hands. She pulled over, got out of her car and began knocking on windows to get people out.

She broke through the window on the front door to get inside and started knocking on all the doors, waking tenants up. Because of her efforts, 18 people made it out alive and well before the flames engulfed the building.

In such extreme circumstances, it is expected that even survivors have faced health problems such as smoke inhalation or burns. But thanks to Walrath's quick action, they came out without major damage.

For his part, Walrath saw his actions as a basic civic duty, not as something special. "At least hit the doors, activate the fire alarms if you see (a fire)," she said.

It is believed that the fire started on the exterior of the building and quickly spread to the exterior wall of the building. Firefighters aggressively attacked the fire and were able to put it out quickly.

As the families watched crews fight the rest of the fire, they thanked Walrath for her help. "I'm just glad everybody got out. That's what matters. That's what matters," Walrath said to one of the tenant's sons, thankful she helped get his mother out safely.