Altoona Fire Department recognizes 4 students

Group presented with certificates for alerting neighbor to signs of a fire

Thirteen-year-old Liam DeLeo of Cherry Grove in Altoona is a quiet kid, according to his grandmother, Mary Ellen DeHaas, but he nevertheless spoke up in an important situation recently.

While riding bikes with his little brother, their cousin and their cousin's friend through the Altoona Housing Authority's Fairview Hills family housing development on Aug. 27, Liam made a decision that likely helped save the residents of one of the homes.

Liam has keen hearing, according to his grandmother, and as he, brother Owen Rhule, 8; their cousin Leo Ruby, 10; and Leo's friend Lincoln Cover, also 10, passed by an East Walnut Avenue building in the complex, the keening of a smoke detector caught Liam's attention and they stopped, Liam said Monday at a presentation of "citizen citation" certificates to all four kids by the Altoona Fire Department -- recognizing them for "exceptional character, concern for the safety and well-being of others and a commitment to the values that strengthen our community."

Liam first thought someone had opened a door to clear out smoke from a nuisance alarm, but after going around the apartment to check and seeing the flashing lights from one of the detectors, he saw the door was closed.

The friends tried unsuccessfully to rouse anyone who might be inside. They then alerted a neighbor, who called 911, according to Deputy Fire Chief Mike Hawksworth.

The firefighters' arrival roused the female occupant of the smoke-filled apartment, after which firefighters discovered a cooking fire on the stove, Hawksworth said.

A significant further delay could have meant that the occupant would have died of smoke inhalation, according to Hawkworth.

The fire could also have spread to the cabinets and beyond, Hawksworth said.

Prior to the ceremony in the driveway of Fire Station No. 1 on Washington Avenue, Liam was nervous, due to the presence of media members, he said.

By contrast, Lincoln was "grateful and thankful" for the recognition.

They interrupted their bike rides that day because "we just didn't want anything bad to happen," Lincoln said.

"I always tell them if they see something to say something," said Priscilla Lamertina, Lincoln's mother, when asked what may have led the kids that day to interrupt their play and do the right thing.

When firefighters talked about what happened that day with the kids prior to the ceremony, the kids referenced what they had learned during the firefighters' annual October safety visits to the area's elementary schools, Hawksworth said.

"It makes you feel good that the students are actually listening," Hawksworth said.

Their stopping that day and ensuring that a potentially catastrophic problem got corrected is "a testament to what kind of character they have," said Fire Chief Adam Free.

They realized "the gravity" of the situation and followed through on the realization, Hawksworth said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.