Four young ladies, the youngest only 9 years old, were honored as real-life heroes on Monday night during an awards ceremony held at the Cottleville Fire District’s Station 1 located at 1385 Motherhead Road in Cottleville.
Fire Chief Rob Wylie told the large audience that were in attendance Monday night. “These young ladies were not afraid when it came time
to take action.” “Their quick thinking undoubtedly saved the lives of all eight people that were home that night.” “They are heroes in every shape and form.” The President of the Fire Board, Steve Mahler presented each of them with a Certificate of Recognition Award.
It was early morning of Monday July 6th 2015. Four young ladies watching tv. It was a sleep over for Macy Lupo’s birthday party, she had just turned 11 years old. Macy’s mother insisted it was getting late and it was time for everyone to go to bed. The girls had other ideas on their minds.
The four young girls, Celina Severado, Adriana Lupo, Macy Lupo and Stevie Lupo, weren’t quite ready for bed yet, they were thirsty and insisted on making their way to the kitchen for a drink, and all of a sudden one of them noticed something outside the kitchen window. The gutter on the back of their home was engulfed in flames!
Previously, the firefighters had been to their school to instruct them on fire safety. Instantly recalling the fire safety lessons they had learned had served them well, they all remembered what they had to do. Quickly wake everyone up and get out of the house. They shouted “Fire, fire, our house is on fire, everyone get up and get out of this house!”
Waking the rest of the family up, Mr. & Mrs. Lupo, Macy and Stevie’s Mom and Dad jumped into action. They got everyone out of the house safely and quickly called 911 from a neighbor’s house.
The firefighters, being only a block away arrived quickly. The home was on fire with heavy smoke coming from the roof of the home, the fire was spreading fast into the attic space. Firefighters were quick to recognize the extreme danger of this type rapidly growing fire and swiftly went into action. Firefighters attacked the fire with everything they could do and were able to extinguish the flames in within thirty minutes of their time of arrival.
The damage was significant, fire, smoke and water had destroyed their home. Emotions shattered but many lives saved, thanks to the quick thinking and heroic actions of these four brave young ladies.
Fire Chief Rob Wylie stated that without the actions of these young ladies that night, he had no doubt that the circumstances would have been far more critical with a high possibility of a loss of life due to the nature of the fire and the location it had started.