The fire started in the kitchen of a rented duplex in Modesto at 11:40 p.m., and he was filming by 11:43. Thirty-four, warehouse supervisor, second shift. He got his own face in the corner of the frame with the flames behind him and posted forty-one seconds of it before the second engine arrived. By three in the morning it had done 11.2 million views.

The comments were the best thing that had ever happened to him. He read them aloud to the fire captain, who was trying to ask about the space heater. Twice that spring he tried again with a barbecue and lighter fluid, and neither clip cleared four thousand. He still keeps the original on three separate drives. His daughter's baby book had been in the hallway closet, and he did not think about that until October.