5-Year-Old Girl Helps Blind Grandmother Escape House Fire in Louisiana
Cloe Woods used what she learned on a class trip to save her grandmother.
— -- A 5-year-old girl is being hailed as a hero after acting quickly to save her grandmother and dog from their burning house in Louisiana.
“If she had not done that, I’d think we’d be looking at a totally different situation,” Kenner Fire Department Chief John Hellmers told ABC News today.
Cloe Woods was sleeping in her home in Kenner when the stove caught on fire, causing the fire alarm to go off on Thursday, Cloe’s mother Shone Arceneaux, 39, explained to ABC News today.
Arceneaux was driving her 14-year-old son to the nearby carpool spot around 6:35 a.m. when the fire alarm went off. Cloe was able to wake her blind grandmother up and guide her out of their home by having her grandmother hold onto her shoulders, Cloe later told her mom.
When Arceneaux got back to the house around 7 a.m., she saw Cloe across the street “hollering ‘Call 911! My house is on fire!’” and smoke coming out of the house. The police and fire department came to the home a few minutes after Arceneaux arrived.
Arceneaux also mentioned that Cloe’s grandmother tried to find her shoes before going outside, but Cloe insisted that they needed to evacuate the house as fast as possible. Cloe was also able to save their dog.
Cloe learned how to safely escape a house fire from a trip her class took to the Kenner Fire Department, in October 2015. Her pre-k teacher Brittany Gaillot at Our Lady of Perpetual Help described to ABC News today how Cloe “loved” the trip and was “a great listener.”
“I’m very proud she put what she learned into action,” Gaillot added.
The fire department chief called Cloe's response "amazing."
“It’s quite surprising that this little girl remembered what she learned in October,” Hellmers said, noting that he’s “used to hearing stories of a child hiding under a bed or a closet. It’s amazing the things this little girl did.”
It was later found the stove caught on fire from a bad pilot light, according to Arceneaux, who did not have the stove on when she left the house.
The family is currently in a hotel since being displaced by the fire, and a GoFundMe account was set up to help Cloe’s family cover the costs of repairs and damage.
But right now Arceneaux is just happy her family is safe.
“I’m so proud of her,” Arceneaux said of Cloe. “I’m just glad everyone is okay.”