NH State Fire Marshal Gives Award To 6-Year-Old Colebrook Boy
I keep trying to think back to how I was when I was 6 years old, and if I would've been able to do what Denali Duval did back in September. I'd like to think I could, but I also had to sleep with the hallway light on back then so who knows if I would've been brave enough to.
According to WMUR, back in September, Denali was asleep in he and his parents' apartment in Colebrook when he was woken up by smoke. After realizing there was a fire, he ran into his parents room and yelled to them that they had to get out of there. That action caused 911 to get called, neighbors to be given a heads up of what was going on, and allowed (almost) everyone to get out of the building before it was too late. I say almost because unfortunately, one person could not escape the fire that night and lost their life.
A few days ago, Denali received an award from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal for his heroic and quick-thinking behavior that day. The State Fire Marshal told WMUR that "we believe if it wasn't for Denali's quick action in recognizing there was a fire and waking up his parents that there could have been more tragedy that September morning."
I don't know if Denali and his parents talked about/went over situations like this just in case they had to be prepared, or if Denali just has some killer common sense, but either way, that little dude is a straight up HERO. Denali's father told WMUR that the fire and flames were so bad that they had to leave the apartment immediately, and people had to go out onto the roof of the building because they couldn't get down the stairs.
Let Denali's heroics be a lesson to all parents though -- make sure your kids know how to operate the way Denali did that morning. He saved up to 19 lives that day, and like the State Fire Marshal said -- even though it was still a tragic day because one life was lost, it could have been way more than just that one life.
Way to go, Denali! We're all proud of you buddy!