Mayor of Edwards honors neighbors who helped save six children from house fire
By Omose Ighodaro
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EDWARDS, Mississippi (WAPT) — Four neighbors who risked their lives to rescue six children from a burning home were honored for their bravery on Saturday.
“I wasn’t expecting to go in there until I heard a baby hollering,” Kennard Hodge said.
Hodge was among the men who were honored by the Town of Edwards after the Oct. 7 fire. The town presented the men with a proclamation honoring their actions.
“When you have a citizen risk their own life, you want to give them their flowers,” Edwards Mayor LeKentric Caston said.
Body-camera video from the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office captured the frantic rescue. In the video, neighbors could be seen digging through debris as flames engulfed the home. After several minutes, Hodge pulled a four-year-old boy from the wreckage.
“I got him! I got him!” Hodge shouted in the video.
Rescuers could be heard pleading for the child to stay awake as deputies rushed to help. The boy became unconscious and stopped breathing and a deputy began CPR.
Hodge said there was no time to think; the choice was instinctive.
“The baby needed a second chance in life and God put me there to get him out,” Hodge said.
Caston said he rushed to the scene after receiving a call from the police chief.
“To get there and see other individuals helping one another, risking their own lives to get this family out of this burning fire,” Caston said.
The mayor said that scene left an impression on him.
Six children, ages 1 to 17, were inside the home during the fire. Caston said the four-year-old boy is still in the hospital and is undergoing multiple surgeries. The Hinds County Sheriff’s Office said the boy is expected to make a full recovery, despite his injuries.
“We just want to keep prayers on this child,” Caston said. “Sixty percent of his body was burned.”
Edwards Town Councilwoman Beulah Jones said the neighbors deserved recognition for stepping in without hesitation, even though they were not trained.
“It was a blessing that they moved in that way because they could’ve passed the house, they could’ve stood there and looked at the house burn and not done anything,” Jones said.
“These are our local heroes for today and thank you,” Caston said.
Hodge said he did not go into the burning home looking for recognition. His message to the community is simple: “We need to look out for each other.”
The mayor said donations for the family are still being accepted at Edwards Town Hall and Bolton-Edwards Elementary School.
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