The "Silent Hero" Story

It was an ordinary day. My parents and brother had gone to the store leaving me by myself. Always trouble! I was playing in my bedroom with my white mice, teaching them to climb up the extension ladder of my big red Tonka fire truck. They were doing pretty good when I smelled smoke. Real smoke! Went out onto the back balcony of our house. We were the last house on a block of semi-detached houses, one block outside of the city of Lancaster near the train station. My bedroom was located in the rear of the house above the kitchen and had access to a balcony through a door in my room. I looked down and saw smoke coming from the first floor. Quick put the mice back in their cage and headed down the stairs. I ran to the kitchen, but didn't see any fire or smoke. After checking outside I realized the house attached to ours, belonging to Deb and Bob B., had smoke coming from the kitchen window and back door. I hopped the fence and ran to the back door. Knocked and waited. No response, so I pounded on the door as hard as I could. So hard one of the windows in the back door broke. Now the smoke was really coming through the back door. Looked in the window and the kitchen was filled with smoke. Well, what do you do? I ran into our house and tried to dial the operator. We had a party line and sometimes you had to wait to use the phone if someone else was talking. Kind of neat being able to listen to your neighbor's conversations. I told whoever was talking that I needed to call for help and could they get off the line. In a few seconds I was talking to the operator and told her about the fire. She said she would call the Southern Manheim Township Fire Company immediately. This is a volunteer fire company about a mile from our house. My friend Jerry's Father is the fire chief there. In the meantime I went back outside and looked in other windows of their house. I saw that most of the smoke was in the kitchen, especially since I had helped ventilate the kitchen by breaking the window. I thought maybe I would try the back door and yep, the door was unlocked. Well what to do next? I opened it. Really good ventilation now!! Most of the smoke escaped through the back door and I stepped inside. Boy, if only my Mom and Dad were home. No...........it was probably best they weren't home or I'd be in trouble at this point. I saw that all the smoke was coming from a big pot on the stove. I turned the burner off and ran out of the back door. In the distance I could hear the sirens from the fire trucks. I waited in the house until I saw the first truck pull to a stop. It was at this point that I remembered that Jerry told me one of the first things they do is put up a ladder to the roof so they can chop a hole in the roof. Holy Cow!!! I panicked!!! They grabbed their ladders and started towards the front of the house. They were going to chop a hole in the roof because Deb and Bob had burnt meat in a pot on their stove in the kitchen. I quickly ran outside and told them I had called them and that the fire was out. I left them know it was in the kitchen and not to cut holes in the roof. I ran back in and locked the doors. Boy, I knew I was going to be in trouble when Mom and Dad got home. Later that day Deb and Bob came over to out house to tell us about what had happened while they were away. They said someone had broken a window in the back door, opened it and turned off the stove. They told us they totally forgot about the meat they had put on the stove when they left to go shopping. They said someone had saved they a lot of damage. If they only knew. If my Mom and Dad only knew. I never opened my mouth! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.