2-year-old alerts mother to kitchen fire

January 24, 2006

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter WASILLA - A 2-year-old boy who is learning to speak Bulgarian and English averted a possible tragedy at his home Friday.

Justin Poston walked in front of his mother as she was leaving the kitchen and said, “Ogen, ogen,” according to Barry Poston, Justin's father.

“Ogen” is the Bulgarian word for fire, and Justin's mother, Stanislava, didn't recall teaching him that word, so she dismissed what Justin said and continued out of the kitchen, Poston said.

Justin moved back into her path and switched to English, saying “Fire, fire,” and started pointing to the stove, Poston said.

A roll of paper towels hangs next to the Postons' stove, where Stanislava was cooking macaroni, Poston said. The fan underneath the microwave oven, which was also running, apparently blew enough air out with enough force that it unrolled some of the towels. The paper had ignited and was burning, he said.

Stanislava was able to put the burning roll of paper towels in the sink and extinguish the flames with the help of the sprayer, Poston said. When she realized what Justin had done, she began to applaud him.

Justin is speaking in small phrases and short sentences in both languages, Poston said. Stanislava is from Bulgaria and everything she teaches him to say in English, she also teaches him to say in Bulgarian, he said.

Justin is keeping mum about how he knew the word “ogen,” but his parents suspect it is a word he learned from Stanislava's father, who is visiting the family.

Barry Poston works at the Medical Training Institute in Anchorage and was at work when Justin saved the day, but his way home, he stopped and bought Justin a big Tonka fire truck, to show his little boy how proud his father is. And he bragged about Justin to his co-workers, who, he said, expressed some doubts.

“I told them, ‘You guys haven't seen my little boy. He's pretty much on the ball,'” Poston said. “He's persistent like his father, but I hope he turns out more like his mother, she's smarter.”

The Postons have smoke detectors all through their house, but Justin's alarm went out before the detector - mounted about 10 feet away - had a chance to sound.

“Now we don't have to remodel the kitchen,” Poston said.

Justin Poston has been busy pushing his new fire truck around the house, and saying “Fire truck, fire truck.”

“I wonder what he'll be when he grows up,” Poston said.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.