8-yr-old boy dies after saving 6 family members from fire

Source: The Independent

Tyler Doohan, 8, who saved six people from a house fire died after trying to save the seventh

An eight-year-old boy who saved six family members in a house fire tragically died while trying to save a seventh person, reports UK based newspaper The Independent.

Emergency services were called to attend a fire in Penfield in East Rochester, New York after the blaze broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at a house trailer, the report added.

Once inside, fire crews discovered the body of Tyler Doohan close to the bed of his grandfather, Louis Beach. 

Investigators say Tyler died alongside Beach, 57, and Steven Smith, 54.

Penfield Fire Chief Chris Ebmeyer said the eight-year-old was at the trailer, where eight other people were all staying, visiting family when the fire started.

Tyler managed to wake six people and alert them to the fire, who all escaped from the trailer. One woman was treated in hospital for second degree burns, Ebmeyer said.

Tyler went back in to assist his disabled grandfather, who would have been unable to get out of bed alone. His aunt followed him in but was unable to see him once inside the smoke engulfed property, CNN reported.

"By that time, the fire had travelled to the back of the trailer, Ebmeyer said. "Unfortunately they [Tyler and his grandfather] both succumbed to heat and smoke."

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

A statement released by the East Rochester Central School District, which Tyler attended, said: "It is extremely important to remember that according to emergency personnel, (Tyler) was the person who discovered the fire and tried to wake the eight other people in the residence at the time.

"In bravely and selflessly giving his own life, he was able to save the lives of six others, and he is truly a hero."