Teen saves 4 sisters from house fire then dog saves him
WEBSTER, Wis. (WCCO) - A 13-year-old Wisconsin boy is being credited with saving his four younger sisters from a house fire while their parents were at the grocery store. He tried to put the fire out himself but couldn’t, his dog eventually leading him away.
Days after a fire tore through her home with her five kids inside, Kelly Omar searched through the rubble for anything she could salvage. She and her husband ran out last Monday to grab dinner for the family.
The parents had been gone about 10 minutes when their kids, ranging in age from 6 months to 13 years, smelled smoke on the first floor.
“My sister said it was really smoky and we looked behind us, and the playpen was on fire,” said Briar Omar, 13.
The oldest of the kids, Briar acted quickly.
“My sisters, that was the first thing I thought of, and I just knew I needed to get them out of the house,” he said.
The family had talked about what to do in an emergency. Briar got his sisters to safety then tried to save the house, too, using a fire extinguisher.
“It went up in bigger flames, and I just couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I almost collapsed, and then, that’s when I felt my dog rub against me. I grabbed her, and she led me out the door,” the 13-year-old said.
Briar and the family dog, Mandy, got out of the burning house just in time for the kids’ parents to pull up outside.
“Until you physically saw every single child, it was just terrifying,” Kelly Omar said.
Briar’s parents credit him with saving the family. Though they are devastated by what was lost, they remain fortunate for what they still have.
“We’re just so thankful that every single one of them made it out, so if it wasn’t for my son, I don’t know where I’d be,” Kelly Omar said.
Friends created a GoFundMe campaign to help the family recover. It has raised more than $4,000.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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