If your family is lucky enough to make it out of a burning home, it’s generally a good idea not to go back inside.

But Walter Serpit said he had no choice. The Columbus, Ga., man made sure all six adults and two children made it outside safely when smoke filled the family’s living room Thursday afternoon. Then, he went back in to get his beer.

Yes, his beer.

"I told them to get the kids out and everything, and me myself, being an alcoholic, I was trying to get my beer out," Serpit told WTVM Channel 9. "I went back into the house like a dummy and the door shut on me because this back draft was about to kill me."

Serpit, who walks with a cane, managed to save several cans of beer without getting injured. Investigators believe a newly installed water heater may have sparked the fire.

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