Boy, 5, alerts family to fire in CT

WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WHDH) -- A 5-year-old boy in Connecticut is being called a life saver after he helped get his family out of their burning home.

The boy remained calm when he smelled smoke. His mother and firefighters are now calling him a hero.

"I woke my mom up and I told my mom to wake Bailey up," said Nicholas.

With soot still on his nose, little Nicholas made a big save Tuesday morning, helping his mom and 2-year-old sister, Bailey, get out of their burning home.

"My son woke me up and said he smelled smoke and heard noises upstairs," said Kelly Fee.

There was a fire raging in the unoccupied apartment above them on the third floor. Because of Nicholas' quick thinking, his mom was able to get her family and the tenants on the first floor out safely.

"This is the second fire we've had this week that occupants got out because of smoke detectors, I can't reinforce that enough if it wasn't for the smoke detectors, we may have been pulling bodies out when we got here. Everybody is safe because of a 5-year-old kid," said Jim Duffy, Wallingford CT Fire Department.

"Two years ago, we lost everything we own in a fire so we're familiar with this and this is not an easy thing," said Fee.

The Red Cross is helping the family out. They'll be staying at the YMCA for the next couple of days.

They had all of their belongings packed up to move to a new home -- now, everything is ruined from all the smoke.

This isn't the first time Nicholas' family has dealt with fire. Their home burned down two years ago.