He had just arrived in Boulder. Within 20 minutes, he was helping victims of a firebomb attack.

Trigger warning: This story contains graphic depictions of violence during the Pearl Street terror attack.

Sunday, June 1 was Naor Bitton’s first day in Boulder. He had been in town for about 20 minutes when the people beside him were swallowed by a ball of fire, close enough to singe his hair.

Bitton, 25 and five months into a six-month visit to the U.S. from Israel, had a classic first-day plan: walk the Pearl Street Mall, then hike the Flatirons. On his walk, he noticed a group of people participating in Run for Their Lives, a weekly march for Israeli hostages held in Gaza. 

“I was really touched and really moved, because I’m from Israel, and I really love my people,” he said. “So I went up to them and I started talking to one of the guys, when suddenly I felt this immense heat wave on the left side of my body. I looked at it, and I see this huge ball of fire that was engulfing the people in the center of the group.”

Federal authorities say Mohamed Sabry Soliman of Colorado Springs threw two Molotov cocktails, injuring at least 12 people, in what they’ve charged as a hate crime and described as an act of terrorism.

“One elderly woman was all engulfed in flames,” Bitton said. “It was a terrible sight.”

Bystanders used clothing to smother the fire that was on other victims, but the woman was covered in too much gasoline.

“I understood that we needed to get water on the scene immediately,” Bitton said. “So I started running back and forth and shouting at people to call 911, and to get water on the scene ASAP.”

He ran from the scene, screaming for water from nearby bystanders and restaurants — whoever was closest — and rushed it back to the group, who poured it over the woman. After several trips, they managed to put out the flames. 

In video footage of the attack, Soliman can be seen pacing the sidewalk, holding two bottles of gasoline as small fires burn in the grass. “He was chanting, ‘Free Palestine,’” Bitton said. “He was chanting, ‘I did it, and I’ll do it again.’”

Some members of the crowd began to surround Soliman and looked ready to charge, according to Bitton. He made his way to the front, trying to ensure people stayed back. 

Roughly 10 to 15 minutes after the attack, he estimates, police arrived, arrested Soliman and began evacuating the wounded. “They deserve a lot of gratitude for what they’ve done there,” he said. 

Bitton had landed in Denver less than a week earlier, after visiting both coasts and Nebraska, where he volunteered as a shepherd. His U.S. trip began immediately after completing his mandatory service in the military. 

The attack, he said, “does not stain my experience, because I believe that I was in the right place, at the right time. I believe that I was meant to be there to help. I don’t really think it’s a coincidence.”

“In some way, I’m grateful for being able to be there and helping,” he said. If he had been elsewhere in Boulder that day, he said he would have felt bad that he wasn’t there to respond.

“My heart goes to the Jewish community in Boulder that is facing a pretty harsh period right now,” Bitton said. “I want to strengthen them.”

On Monday, the day after the attack, Bitton hiked the Flatirons as intended. He counts the Colorado mountains among the five most beautiful things he’s seen in the U.S.