5-Year-Old New Hampshire Boy Wakes Parents After Seeing Fire: ‘Our Hero’

A five-year-old New Hampshire boy awoke Sunday morning to see a fire on his family’s property and promptly alerted his parents, allowing the family to evacuate the home and save their farm animals.

Five-year-old Aksel Jalava of Swanzey woke up at 7:30 in the morning to see flames outside of his family’s home, WBZ reported. The old workshop they use for storage had caught ablaze.

“I [woke] up because I was hungry. And I thought it was an orange light, but it was the fire,” Aksel told the outlet. “I went to tell Daddy… I said, ‘Come and look at this.'”

Aksel’s father, Bryan, said there was a calmness about his five-year-old’s tone.

“There was just something in his voice, in his calmness, that wasn’t like, ‘I’m hungry,’ or whatever. He was just like, ‘Dad, you got to see this,'” said Bryan, a corporal for the Windham County Sheriff’s Office in Vermont. “It was just a miracle. It would’ve spread to the house. If it was 15 minutes later, the whole house would’ve caught.”

The family evacuated the home and called 911, NBC Boston said. They were able to move all of their farm animals to safety.

The Swanzey Fire Department contained the fire, preventing it from reaching the Jalavas’ home.

Bryan praised his son for his quick-thinking actions.

“He is our hero. One hundred percent,” Bryan told Boston 25 News. “Stuff can be replaced. We’re just glad no one was hurt – all our animals are okay, we’re okay – and the house is still intact.”

The fire’s cause is being investigated.