Boys Rush Into Burning Home to Save Babies

When a fire broke out in an Orange County mobile home Tuesday morning, two neighborhood boys rushed in to save the babies they knew lived inside.

Isiah Francis, 10, and Jeremiah Grimes, 11, were playing in Isiah’s home when they said they smelled something, saw smoke and noticed the children’s stepfather trying to put out a blaze. Realizing that the babies were still inside the home, the boys stepped up to help.

“I was really scared because I thought I was going to get burned,” Isiah told Click Orlando.

He put that fear aside.

Isiah and Jeremiah were able to navigate the smoke to rescue a 1-year-old and 8-month old inside the home, WPTV reported.

Jeremiah said he, too, was frightened, especially because it was so hot and smoky inside the home.

He kept telling himself to “stay calm,” he told WESH.

Once the boys had the babies safely out of the home, they took them to Isiah’s home, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

“We gave them water and then we called 911,” Isiah said.

That 911 call was confirmed Wednesday by Orange County Fire Rescue officials.

“What these children did is an exceptional act of bravery and their families should be very proud,” Fire Chief Otto Drozd III was quoted in an email to media as saying. “They called 911 so our firefighters could immediately respond to the emergency. Furthermore, two children were safely rescued from the residence as a direct result of their actions.”

When Fire Rescue made it out to the home, two children and one adult were safely outside.

“Upon arrival firefighters quickly entered the burning structure and conducted a rapid search of the home, which was 75 percent involved, and discovered two additional children,” fire officials wrote. “Those two children were transported to South Lake Hospital in Clermont. They were then transferred to Arnold Palmer Hospital, one by helicopter and one by ground transport. Their conditions were not immediately available.”

The blaze occurred at Lake John’s Motel apartments in a small town called Oakland, which is south of Lake Apopka. It is unclear at this time just how the fire started.

Fire officials commend the boys for saving the two babies, but stress rushing into a burning structure is not recommended.

“Although we never advise entering a building on fire, we must recognize the courage it took for those kids to risk their own lives to save the lives of others,” said Drozd.

Orange County Fire Rescue is working with community partners and Mayor Teresa Jacobs to more formally recognize the boys’ act of courage, the media release said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Further details are not yet available.

Screenshot