Family members say man, who died while trying to save elderly neighbor, was a hero
Family remembers man who died trying to save elderly neighbor
Family members are paying tribute to the young man who lost his life while trying to help his elderly neighbor escape a deadly brush fire in Lakewood last week.
LAKEWOOD, Wash. - Family members are paying tribute to the young man who lost his life while trying to help his elderly neighbor escape a deadly brush fire in Lakewood last week.
Zachery McDonough was a well-loved member of the Jamestown Estates mobile home community. His stepdad and brother Lance says he died on August 4 in the man's trailer as he was trying to get him out.
"His bedroom was in the front window, by the trees there," said Michael Fletcher, Zach's stepfather, pointing to where he stayed in the family's mobile home unit.
Fletcher wasn't home at the time the raging inferno damaged his home, and moved on to his neighbor Patrick Zmiarovich's house. He didn't know until hours later the fire had taken Zmiarovich's life along with the young man that he considered his stepson, Zach.
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Family remembers 70-year-old man who died in Lakewood mobile home fire
Patrick Zmiarovich's brother remembers him as someone who made friends easily and had a sense of charisma.
"I think he heard the hollering and the screaming and the power went out," said Fletcher.
Zach was autistic, and though he was around 30, had the mentality of a teenager, according to Fletcher. He believes that he ran to ask neighbors where Pat was before heading into his trailer.
"For him to have autism and for him to put his life on the line, it still floors me. It’s a shock…and I can't stop crying," said Lance Daines, Zach's brother.
Anytime Zach needed help when he was home alone, Fletcher said he'd go see Patrick.
"I’m guessing he went in the house to try to get Pat," said Fletcher.
Fletcher said that his stepson showed an immense amount of bravery.
"I know he went in there to try to help him because he wouldn’t have put himself in that position for no other reason," said Fletcher. "That’s the way I have to look at it, was a hero he was trying to save the old man."
Fletcher says that he came to know and love Zach after meeting his mom Rebecca. Fletcher said he and Rebecca lived together and were partners for several years. When she died of cancer in August of 2022, Zach stayed on with Michael.
"We had a tragedy in the family we lost our mother last year, same month," said Daines. "He had nowhere to go after her passing, so he moved in with Mike who was her boyfriend."
Daines showed us photos of the two together as young boys.
"Me and Zachery at Disneyland, getting a western photo," he said pointing to one of the photos.
He says Zachary was his brother's given name spelling, but sometimes he liked to change the spelling to Zack to put his own twist on it. The two spent endless hours playing outside together in their youth.
"I can tell you he was imaginative, he was full of life, we grew up on a five acre plot of land, so we had a forest, and we played a lot of games," he said.
Based on Zach's childhood, the heroics shouldn't have surprised anyone.
"Him going into that fire like that with him being autistic, I mean, he's a hero. We played games growing up, and he was usually on the good side," said Daines.
Zach's family has set up an online fundraiser for Zach for his funeral and memorial service expenses.
"It’s been a lot to handle, this coming just before the anniversary of my mom’s death and now him, the last two years have just been rough," said Daines.
A friend also set up an online fundraiser for Fletcher in order to raise money to repair his melted home, and to pay for a storage unit where Zach still has things stored, along with those of his late mother.
"I still have all their family stuff , stuffed into a 10 x 15 storage unit, I’ve been paying for, me and Zach have been paying for over a year," said Fletcher.
Fletcher says his little dog Azzee belonged to Zach's mom, then Zach after her death. Now the pup seems lost without him. Family and friends are also feeling the same.
"There’s nothing else to say except he’s going to be terribly missed. I’m still having a hard time with that," said Fletcher.
"They say you don’t know the kind of person who ‘s going to throw themselves on top of a grenade until it’s in front of you, and he was definitely that," said Daines. "I love him, and he will be missed."