A young girl is being called a hero by her own family after she ran inside her house as its roof burned to alert her sleeping mom and siblings to the grave danger.
Olivia Patterson, age 6, was playing outside with a friend in a nearby yard.
That’s when she realized that the roof of her family’s semi-detached home in Riccall, North Yorkshire, England, was on fire, according to the U.K. newspaper The Times.
Without hesitating, the girl apparently ran into the property — where she found her 29-year-old mother, Laura Patterson, taking a nap on the sofa with little brother Joel-James, age one, and sister Tiffany, age two.
Olivia Patterson told BBC News that she was playing nearby “when she saw flames and smoke coming from her home and the adjoining house.”
The outlet reported, “I didn’t know what to think, so I went to tell Mommy,” the girl told the BBC.
Olivia Patterson, 6 years old, alerted her mother and two young siblings to the fire burning on their home’s rooftop. (Sadie Gelder/SWNS)
The girl apparently then woke up all three of them — and all managed to escape the fire unharmed.
The child’s grandmother, Sadie Gelder, 54, reported that she was “so proud” of the “amazing” youngster for her actions in the crisis.
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She said, “We are absolutely so proud of her.”
“She’s six years old and ran [into] a burning building.”
She added, as the British news service SWNS reported, “We can’t believe Olivia got Laura out — she’s six years old and ran [into] a burning building.”
The fire reportedly occurred on April 4.
The next-door neighbor’s house caught fire, which then quickly spread to the upstairs of the family’s three-bedroom property, the outlets reported.
An investigation is currently ongoing, said SWNS. Meanwhile, “the family have been told [the fire] might have been caused by a phone charger.”
Grandmother Sadie Gelder, center, is pictured in an earlier year with young Olivia Patterson, at left, plus baby Joel-James Patterson and Tiffany Patterson, on the right. Gelder told outlets in the U.K. that young Olivia Patterson was shouting, “Wake up, Mom, the house is on fire — wake up the babies.” (Sadie Gelder/SWNS)
The grandmother said that nobody actually went into the house to rescue anyone because they thought the home was empty at the time.
She said, “Olivia saw people in the street, but she just ran in to wake her mom up. She was shouting, ‘Wake up, Mom, the house is on fire — wake up the babies.’”
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“The people in the street didn’t think anyone was in [the home] because there wasn’t a car on the drive.”
Four fire engines attended the blaze at the semi-detached property, the BBC said.
The family escaped the fire unharmed thanks to the little girl’s efforts. (Sadie Gelder/SWNS)
The grandmother said the family is now staying in an Airbnb temporarily — and that they’ve lost almost everything in the blaze.
Former colleagues of the mom have set up a fundraising page to offer support to the family.
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“Everything they own has been destroyed,” wrote a friend on the fundraising page.
“The fire structural engineer has been out to assess Laura’s home and they have been dealt a blow, as the house needs to be knocked down and rebuilt — it cannot be saved.”
“They have been dealt a blow as the house needs to be knocked down and rebuilt — it cannot be saved.” (Sadie Gelder/SWNS)
The grandmother said, “People have been donating beds, bedding and towels — things like that.”
It’s all the “little things,” said the grandmother, “to help her build everything back up.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for further comment and updates.
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