CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — A 10-year-old girl is being hailed as a hero after she spotted flames outside her family's home before dawn and alerted relatives, giving everyone time to get out safely.
The fire broke out just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of West Cypress Road in Oakley.
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District firefighters arrived to find the house engulfed in flames and downed power lines between a utility pole and the home.
The fallen lines complicated the initial response and forced crews to take a defensive approach until additional resources arrived, Battalion Chief Jeff Burris told the Contra Costa News.
Family members said 10-year-old Elizabeth Morgan was responsible for making that happen.
Her mother, Neena Morgan, said Elizabeth looked out a window after noticing something unusual, saw flames outside the home, and immediately began yelling to wake everyone inside, according to Contra Costa News.
"She looked out the window to see what was happening, saw the flames, and started yelling at everybody in the house, waking all of us and getting us out of the house," Morgan said in a video recorded by the news outlet.
Morgan called her daughter a hero for helping save the family.
Fire officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
No injuries were immediately reported.
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