Boy, 7, saves family from burning house

November 20, 2005

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU -A Big Lake family lost their house to fire on Nov. 11, but they got out with their lives, thanks to their youngest child.

Tony McGee, 7, woke up before anyone else in the house and took matters into his own hands.

&#8220He was desperately trying to wake us up,” Jody McGee said. &#8220He was persistent.”

Tony pushed them and shouted to wake up, saying the house was smoky, she said.

Three smoke detectors in the house that McGee said were recently purchased didn't sound off, and Tony was the only alarm in the house near Pond Lily Lane.

The fire started in the back of the house and McGee said they think their Rottweiler, Max, knocked something onto a wall-mounted propane heater.

McGee said if Tony hadn't alerted the household, his sister Erica, 12, would probably not have made it out of the fire because her bedroom was close to where the fire started.

&#8220It was hot when I woke up,” Erica said. &#8220It was so smoky I couldn't see the door. I thought everybody had gone, but then I heard Tony.”

Everyone in the house, including Mason, 15, Amber, 14, and a friend of Amber's who spent the night, made it out safely. But since the fire, they all have a hard time sleeping, especially Tony, McGee said, because they don't feel safe in their sleep.

Although the family hadn't practiced fire drills, they got out with no delay.

&#8220The older kids jumped on it and got right out,” McGee said

They escaped the house in their pajamas, but without shoes on a snowy morning. The children went to their grandparent's house next door while firefighters fought the blaze.

&#8220Tony had just had a birthday on the sixth,” said grandmother Lucille McGee, who lost her house in the Millers Reach fire in 1996. &#8220About halfway through the day he realized all his birthday presents were gone. I told him, ‘Tony you have the most important thing, you're all alive.'”

The McGees now live in a fifth-wheel trailer on the same site. It's a little crowded and stressful with so many people in the fifth-wheel, Jody McGee said. Tony is nervous these days, hasn't been back to school yet and hardly sleeps at all, she said.

About six fires in October and November haven't had working smoke detectors, according to Jack Krill Jr. chief of Central Mat-Su Fire Department.

&#8220You should test your smoke detectors monthly,” Krill said. &#8220And change the batteries every six months. The batteries may still be good enough to use for other things, like toys, but keep them fresh in your smoke detectors.”

Including batteries, a detector costs about $10, Krill said.

&#8220Ten dollars could save your life,” he said.

People who need assistance can call Central Mat-Su at 373-8827 and arrange for someone from the department to install a detector in the right place in the house, make sure the batteries are fresh and test it to make sure if works, Krill said.

The McGee family said they've received all the clothes they need through generous donations, but they are hoping to find a trailer to put on their property for the winter.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.