15-year-old boy helps neighbor from house fire
KDKA
By Ricky Sayer
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NORTH BRADDOCK, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A 15-year-old boy is being hailed a hero after he jumped into action to help a neighbor during a house fire on Thursday in North Braddock.
Xaiveyon McMillan Taylor had just stepped off his school bus on North Avenue when he heard a woman screaming that her house had caught fire. The woman, a longtime school crossing guard in her 80s, is known by neighbors as “Ms. Evelyn.”
“She is everybody’s family, she’s everybody’s grandmother,” said Tallula Thompson, the teen’s mother and the caretaker for Ms. Evelyn’s granddaughter.
She explained that her son ran inside the home to help the woman.
“He’s autistic. He’s very intelligent, but he’s never experienced nothing like this before. So, he tried to put it out, and when he couldn’t, he pulled her out of the house,” Thompson said.
She explained Evelyn, who multiple people say has dementia, had gone back inside the home despite the fire. That’s where the 15-year-old boy jumped into action.
“When I got to the kitchen, I saw the engulfing flames. They were small, and I was like, Oh my God,” he said. “I had to grab her by the hand and had to pull her to get out of the house.”
She re-entered the home multiple times, according to Thompson, who also helped get Evelyn out while her son called 911. The teen described being a bit scared during the ordeal, but he said he felt he had to help.
“Evelyn threw her arms around him and thanked him so graciously for saving her,” neighbor Tracy Musilek said. “Xaiveyon is our hero.”
Asked if he feels like a hero, the 15-year-old said he does because he was helping another person.
The fire itself grew quickly once crews arrived. The home was a total loss, but Evelyn was OK.
“I’m very proud of what he’s done,” Thompson said of her son. “Of course, I am, because who knows, if she didn’t call him up there, she would probably still be in there trying to do it herself, and we might have lost her.”
North Braddock Mayor Cletus Lee said he’s working to make sure Evelyn, a borough employee, has clothes and a place to stay. He’s also looking to see if the borough can recognize the teen boy’s actions.
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