Fire officials said the child was found “conscious and alert” in a small storage closet area on the third floor, where the fire was burning
An 11-year-old boy was saved from a house fire after making a phone call to his mother from inside the burning building.
Crews responded to reports of a blaze at 18 Leslie Street in Ingram around 10:45 p.m. local time on July 1 and found “heavy smoke on the third floor of the structure” upon arrival, according to a news release from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.
A woman at the scene told crews “her son was trapped on the third floor of the residence” where the fire was burning.
Fire officials said the 11-year-old boy called his mother’s cellphone and told her “he was in a low closet area on the third floor.”
Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said the boy “crawled into a cupboard,” but got “locked in” after “the door closed behind him,” according to ABC affiliate WTAE.
In their official statement, fire officials said Pittsburgh Fire Battalion Chief Becker asked the mom “if the child could yell so that firefighters could hear him,” but she said he could not.
So, Becker asked the woman to have the child “bang on the wall so that firefighters could hear him.”
“Once the crews were oriented and knew where to go, they went straight to that spot,” Jones explained, per CBS affiliate KDKA-TV.
Eventually, members of the 31-Engine found the child “conscious and alert” in a small storage closet area on the third floor and rescued him, according to Pittsburgh fire officials.
“My guys were very excited,” Jones said, per KDKA-TV. “I am so proud of them because they really work hard and they train hard and to have an opportunity for a successful outcome like this, because too often it’s an unsuccessful outcome.”
Jones said the boy was transported to a local hospital, according to WTAE. The child’s current medical condition remains unclear.
The fire chief also used the opportunity to remind others not to hide during a fire, but rather leave the building altogether.
“We don’t want kids to run and hide, because they all have their secret hiding spots inside their houses,” Jones explained. “We want you to get out of the building.”
