Norton Youths Keep House Fire From Spreading

As the Cohen family drove home from CCD Tuesday night, Connor, 8, and Josh, 6, were quick to spot something that wasn’t quite right.

Connor yelled for his mother, Sheri Cohen, to stop the car immediately because there was a fire in front of someone’s house.

“I told him that they were probably just burning brush and it was fine,” Sheri said. But the boys insisted she turn around until she relented.

Sure enough, there was a fire starting underneath a window of the house in the bushes.

The Cohen family stopped at the residence and knocked on the door, informing the homeowners of the fire.

“The family was a little shocked probably because we were banging loudly on their door and then going over to where the fire was,” Sheri said. “They were very appreciative though.”

The homeowners were able to put out the fire themselves before any major damage was done.

“Lesson of the day,” Sheri explained, “Sometimes no matter how busy we are it is important to listen and follow through with what [our] kids are saying.”

During dinner that night, Connor said they had learned about firefighters in school yesterday. It seems as though that lesson paid off. The boys said that they feel great about helping the family and proud that they did the right thing.

Because the fire was not officially reported to the fire department, the location of the incident has not been disclosed and the cause is unknown. However, Norton Fire Chief Paul Schleicher later heard about what happened and commended them for being so adamant.

“In speaking with Sheri, the kids did a great job convincing her to turn around and investigating,” Schleicher said. “[There’s] no way of knowing what might have happened if the house caught fire.”