Boy hailed as hero for alerting grandparents to house fire
Published: September 29, 2006
A 10-year-old Montgomery County boy is credited with saving his grandparents’ lives when their home was damaged by a fire Wednesday night.
Arthur Spencer III called 911 after smelling smoke in the home of his grandparents, Arthur and Helen Spencer, in Camargo, said Maj. Tony Clayton of the Montgomery County Fire Department.
“If the little boy had not smelled the smoke, we probably would have had three fatalities,” Clayton said. The house does not have smoke detectors.
The fire happened about 9 p.m. Wednesday, after the grandparents had gone to bed.
“The little boy had not gone to sleep yet when he saw black smoke coming down the hallway of this Bedford stone, ranch-style house,” Clayton said. “He got his papaw up. While his papaw was helping grandmother out, the little boy turned around and called 911 to report the fire.”
Firefighters were on the scene quickly because the house is directly across the road from the fire station in Camargo, a community of 963 residents about 5 miles southeast of Mount Sterling.
“There was heavy black smoke pouring out,” Clayton said.
An electric wheelchair that was plugged in for recharging in the kitchen was the cause of the fire, Clayton said.
“Mr. Spencer and his grandson said they saw the fire in the battery area at the base of the chair,” he said.
The kitchen was gutted, and cabinets, carpet and drywall will need to be replaced.
Clayton said there already are discussions about publicly recognizing the boy in a program at Camargo Elementary School in about two weeks.
“He truly saved his grandparents’ lives,” Clayton said.
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