ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — A passerby is being lauded as a hero for rescuing a local family after their Jamestown home erupted into flames early Tuesday morning.

A 34-year-old mother and her four young children, ages 12, 8, 6 and 4, were asleep in their house on the 1600 block of Highway 374 in Jamestown when a child’s hoverboard is believed by investigators to have somehow malfunctioned and started the home ablaze.

Ryan Pasborg, 32, of Green River, was running late for work Tuesday morning when he smelled smoke and saw flames coming from a bedroom window of the home. Pasborg pulled into the driveway where he saw a young girl and two boys walk outside of the house.

After the three children told Pasborg that their mother and 4-year-old little brother were still inside, he entered the residence without hesitation. Pasborg told authorities that he could not see anything inside because of heavy smoke, so he crawled on his hands and knees on the floor several feet into the kitchen before he bumped into the small child. He immediately picked him up and carried him outside.

With a windchill temperature well below zero, Pasborg quickly put all four children in his truck to keep them warm before entering the burning home a second time, this time crawling through the kitchen deeper into the house in search of the children’s missing mother.

Moments later, Pasborg found the woman lying on the floor, badly burned and struggling to breath. After dragging her outside, he noticed that she was no longer breathing, so he performed lifesaving measures until she suddenly took a gasp of air and sat up.

Pasborg later purchased several hundred dollars’ worth of clothing and necessities and personally delivered them to the family.

“There are no words to adequately express the magnitude of Ryan’s bravery other than he is a perfect example of what it means to be a real hero,” said Sheriff John Grossnickle.