Six-year-old blaze hero saved sister
Autistic Kyran honoured for bravery by fire chiefs after leading Kemi-Leigh to safety
A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy with autism has been hailed a ‘hero’ for guiding his younger sister to safety after a house fire.
Kyran Walker spotted black smoke billowing out of the kitchen from a chip pan left on the cooker.
AS I X-YEAR- OLD boy with autism has been hailed a ‘hero’ for guiding his younger sister to safety after a house fire.
Kyran Walker spotted black smoke billowing out of the kitchen from a chip pan left on the cooker and shouted to alert his mum upstairs.
The quick-thinking Rishton Methodist pupil then got his five-year-old sister Kemi-Leigh Walker to crawl on her hands and knees out of the front door to safety.
Kyran’s mum Naomi Bradshaw said he remembered what to do in the situation because he had been taught how to deal with fires by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service officers several months earlier.
Naomi told the Observer: “He was pretty amazing. I’m really proud of what he did.
“He learned what to do a few months ago at school when the fire brigade came in. For him to remember all that was great. He was so calm and I was in a right panic.
“I had left the chap pan on the cooker. I thought I had turned the number to zero but I had accidentally put it on six instead.
“I was upstairs sorting some things out and Kyran spotted the smoke.
“He is autistic and I thought he would panic when he saw it but he was so calm and brave.
“He got my daughter on the floor and made her crawl out of the front door. He knew that smoke rises.
“The fire alarm did not go off at all so I didn’t have a clue about it.
“There was no fire itself but it was seconds away from being a fire. By the time the kids had shouted me and I came down the whole downstairs was completely blacked out with smoke.”
The incident happened on Victoria Street, Rishton, on December 16 and Kyran was presented with a certificate and box of Cadbury Heroes from Hyndburn firefighter Damien Stewart on the last day of the school term.
Mr Stewart was also the firefighter that gave pupils the safety advice during a visit earlier in 2019.
A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were delighted to be invited back to Kyran’s school to present him with a certificate and a box of chocolates.
“They were well deserved. It takes a lot of bravery and composure to do what Kyran did when he faced the smoke from the chip pan.
“For an adult this can be a harrowing experience which could cause them to freeze and panic so for a six-year-old to act in this way is hugely impressive.
“This incident also highlights the benefits of the Childsafe visits that we offer to every primary school aged pupil in Lancashire.
“The lesson usually lasts one hour and focuses on increasing knowledge about fire risks and awareness of what to do in the event of a fire.”
Rishton Methodist Headteacher Janet Neale said: “We invited the Fire Brigade in to meet Kyran and four firefighters came in on the last day of term to present him with a special certificate and a box of ‘Hero’ chocolates.
“To say the least we are very proud of him.”