Aspendale boy Shay, 8, wakes to sound alarm, finds bed on fire
Shay got the fright of his life when he woke in the middle of the night to find the mattress burning. But it’s what the eight-year-old did next that has CFA members — and his grateful family — praising him.
Inner South
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When frightened, eight-year-old Shay woke to find his mattress on fire, he stayed calm and quickly woke his sister who was also on the upper floor.
Just before midnight on Monday Shay woke up in his Aspendale house to the sound of the smoke alarm.
When he looked down his bed he realised a small lamp had ignited his mattress and the fire was burning between his legs.
Shay quickly got his sister, nine-year-old Stevie, and moved her downstairs and alerted his parents.
Nicola Sheehan, Shay’s mum, said she couldn’t be more proud of her son.
“He woke up and realised his room was full of smoke so he ran to our room holding his nose and shook me awake, which allowed Dermot (Shay’s father) and I to get the girls and puppy out of the house within maybe 90 seconds,” Ms Sheehan said.
“He was brave, he didn’t panic or cry, he just did what his instincts told him.
Ms Sheehan said Shay was the toughest eight-year-old she knew.
“I get very emotional thinking about what could have happened if he didn’t wake up or make the decisions he did,” she said.
“They (the children) were all very shocked and just said it felt like it was a dream.
“They just want to sleep with us for the rest of the week downstairs.”
The whole upstairs area of the double-storey house filled with smoke, so the family of five evacuated with their dog, calling triple-0 and isolating power.
Edithvale and Patterson River CFA crews entered the building in breathing apparatus’ and went to the boy’s upstairs bedroom where the bed was on fire.
After extinguishing the main fire, crews brought the mattress downstairs where it was totally extinguished on the front lawn.
Edithvale CFA Captain Graham Fountain said the heat of the bulb seems to have ignited the mattress and said the incident was another example of a working smoke alarm saving lives – the life of at least one young child and potentially a family of five.
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“Last night again proves smoke alarms and education of all family members on what to do in a fire actually does save lives – without both last night’s event could have been an absolute tragedy,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the obvious trauma associated with this type of event, the actions of the children and family were a textbook example of what you should do when confronted with a fire – immediately evacuate, notify the fire brigade via triple-0, account for everyone and wait outside for the fire brigade to arrive.”