• Sign Up
    • Yearly by Check
    • Monthly Recurring
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Account
  • Log In
The Hendersonian
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Business
    • Local
    • Police
    • Politics
    • Schools
    • Science
    • Sports
    • State
    • World
    Paving of the Strip started Monday night

    Paving of the Strip started Monday night

    Of Public Record from July print edition

    ‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

    ‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

    Broken air conditioning system forces city and county employees from the Peabody Building

    Broken air conditioning system forces city and county employees from the Peabody Building

    Ellis Park opens season

    Ellis Park opens season

    Former Flash player’s Rangers Instagram account, which he started at age 11, has 138,000+ followers

    Former Flash player’s Rangers Instagram account, which he started at age 11, has 138,000+ followers

    Trending Tags

  • Tech
    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

    Trending Tags

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    July hopes to start off with a box office bang

    July hopes to start off with a box office bang

    Ellis Park opens season

    Ellis Park opens season

    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Grants available from Deaconess Henderson Hospital Community Program Fund

    Hospital CAO: Deaconess Henderson will not close

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    Trending Tags

  • Public Notices
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Business
    • Local
    • Police
    • Politics
    • Schools
    • Science
    • Sports
    • State
    • World
    Paving of the Strip started Monday night

    Paving of the Strip started Monday night

    Of Public Record from July print edition

    ‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

    ‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

    Broken air conditioning system forces city and county employees from the Peabody Building

    Broken air conditioning system forces city and county employees from the Peabody Building

    Ellis Park opens season

    Ellis Park opens season

    Former Flash player’s Rangers Instagram account, which he started at age 11, has 138,000+ followers

    Former Flash player’s Rangers Instagram account, which he started at age 11, has 138,000+ followers

    Trending Tags

  • Tech
    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

    Trending Tags

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    July hopes to start off with a box office bang

    July hopes to start off with a box office bang

    Ellis Park opens season

    Ellis Park opens season

    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Grants available from Deaconess Henderson Hospital Community Program Fund

    Hospital CAO: Deaconess Henderson will not close

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    Trending Tags

  • Public Notices
No Result
View All Result
The Hendersonian
No Result
View All Result
Home News Local

‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

Vince Tweddell by Vince Tweddell
July 5, 2025
in Local
0
‘I would’ve done it for anybody. And I would do it again.’

William Collins talks about the early morning fire rescue in which he saved two people and then helped to save others. (Hendersonian Photo/Vince Tweddell)

0
SHARES
10.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Henderson resident honored for rushing into a burning building and saving lives

Something told William Collins to take a different route. Collins delivers donuts two or three times each week from Golden Glaze, and one early morning in May, he had just left the shop with his delivery in tow, ready to get going on his route that takes him to several stops in Morganfield.

It was about 2:15 a.m. and on those early morning runs, he typically swings by his Alves Street home just to see if all is well before he drives on to Morganfield.  

But that night, he heard a voice that told him to take a different route. Instead of taking his normal path, the voice told him to make specific turns, the last directive being, “Take a left and look up into the sky.”

When he did, he saw the sky was a pinkish-red. That’s when he saw the apartment complex on fire in the 400 block of Adams Street. And that’s when he realized that “looked like Miss Mary Elizabeth (Dixon)’s house.”

He first banged on her door and when she didn’t answer, busted it down, he said. Collins said she was asleep when he got to her and didn’t realize there was a fire. When he got her out of the house, Dixon told him her 8-year-old grandson was still inside in a room in the back of the house.

So, Collins went back inside, crawling on his hands and knees to get to the back room. But when he got there, Dixon’s grandson wasn’t there.

He crawled to a front room and found him still asleep on the couch and got him out.

Throughout it all, Collins said the heat of the fire didn’t affect him.

“I didn’t feel the heat on me,” he said. “I knew God was with me.”

In fact, Collins said he said it was God who gave him the directives to take a route different from what he normally takes on that night.

“I know it was,” he said. “I know his voice.”

Collins said after he helped Dixon and her grandson, he then went to the doors of the other tenants in the complex and banged on them, and they got out of their residences, too.

For his heroics, Collins was honored with the city of Henderson’s Community Spotlight award at the June 24 Henderson City Commission meeting. He was recommended for the honor by Commissioner Robert Pruitt, who Collins said came to the scene of the fire that night.

Collins, 53, is a 1989 Henderson County High School graduate. For nine years, he worked in the Henderson County School system and later drove garbage trucks for the city, retiring after 19 years.

In addition to his Golden Glaze deliveries, he now also mows yards in the summer. He said he sometimes wakes at 12:30 a.m. to get ready for his delivery and then when he finishes hours later, starts right away mowing in the early morning hours so he can finish before the temperature rises too high. He took an early afternoon break from mowing grass recently to talk to the Hendersonian.

For those who’ve been patting him on the back and congratulating him recently, he said he’s just staying humble and giving the glory to God.

“Just give him the honor and the glory,” Collins said. “I don’t like to be lifted on a high horse. I just continue to stay humble, and I just do what I do.”

In fact, the doing what he does started immediately after the residents had got out of their apartments and fire and police arrived at the scene the night of the fire. Soon after, he got back into his delivery vehicle and went on with his route to Morganfield.

The gravity of it all, though, hit him as he was driving. He said he was “crying all the way there and back.”

Another piece of the story was that in the crawling through the apartment, Collins lost his cell phone. As he drove his route that morning, he prayed his phone wasn’t broken. Firefighters found it on the floor, and it worked, he said. “I’m still using it,” he said.

In addition to his commendation from the Henderson City Commission, Collins met with Henderson Fire Department Chief Josh Dixon, who gave him a medal for saving lives.

“I would’ve done it for anybody,” Collins said. “And I would do it again.”

Previous Post

New art exhibit pairs artists with local gardens

Next Post

July hopes to start off with a box office bang

Vince Tweddell

Vince Tweddell

Vince Tweddell is the founder, publisher and editor of the Hendersonian.

Next Post
July hopes to start off with a box office bang

July hopes to start off with a box office bang

Recent News

Paving of the Strip started Monday night

Paving of the Strip started Monday night

July 7, 2025

Letters to the editor from July print edition

July 7, 2025

Of Public Record from July print edition

July 7, 2025
July hopes to start off with a box office bang

July hopes to start off with a box office bang

July 7, 2025
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Account
  • Log In

© 2025 The Hendersonian • Henderson, KY 42420

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Login

© 2025 The Hendersonian • Henderson, KY 42420