14-year-old saves siblings in Fall River Fire
By: Chloe Leshner
cleshner@abc6.com
@ChloeLeshner
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — A 14 year old girl hailed a hero after saving herself and her 2 siblings from a house fire in Fall River overnight.
Luckily a family of 5 is only dealing with minor scrapes and bruises after a basket of laundry went up in flames, separating the children from their parents.
Broken glass still litters the driveway of a multi-family home on Hope Street as workers board up the windows after an early morning fire broke out in the second floor apartment.
There’s extensive damage inside, but firefighters say they’re actually thrilled with the outcome.
"The family is still together and that’s an outcome no one would’ve expected from that fire. When they came the fire had blown through the windows, it was lapping out from the second floor to the third floor," says District Chief James Mellen.
Fire officials say a basket of laundry sitting in front of a space heater caught fire. The flames growing bigger when a 14-year-old girl tried to move them away.
"They just ignited. There was nothing she could do at that point, she actually went back to her room because she was cut off from her parents," says Mellen.
Her parents were able to get out one of the main doors but it’s the young girl’s quick thinking that likely saved her and her younger siblings’ lives.
"She took all the cushions she could find and threw them out the window, took a sheet and held onto it on the second floor and had her siblings kind of climb down the sheet as best they could," says Mellen.
Then she had to jump. The pile of pillows that broke her fall is still sitting on the pavement Saturday morning.
Firefighters blown away by the girl’s courage.
"The cushions were a brilliant idea. She really maintained herself so well. She really should be looking for a future in the emergency services department," says Mellen.
Fire officials say this should be used as a lesson to never to leave flammable items so close to a heat source.
(C) WLNE/ABC 6 2018
