Boy ,14, Called Hero for Fighting Fire, Saving Pets

A 14-year-old Huntington Beach boy was credited by fire officials Wednesday with preventing a fire from consuming a house and with saving several pets.

As fire engines rolled to a house fire at 15851 Plymouth Lane, John Grim aimed a garden hose through a window, keeping a living room fire in check and helping save various pets inside, said city Fire Capt. Jacques Pelletier.

No one was injured in the 4:30 p.m. fire, which caused an estimated $10,000 damage to the single-story, four-bedroom home. Three exotic birds died in the fire, investigators said.

“In my opinion the fire would have been two or three times bigger if he had not kept water on it” because a house fire can double in size every four minutes, Pelletier said. “He did a good job. He’s a local hero!”

The fire started in the living room when 10-year-old Brandon Clark was home alone, officials said. Brandon’s attempt to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher failed, so he dialed 911.

He then ran to nearby Circle View School to alert his parents. Brandon ran past the school parking lot yelling “My house is on fire! My house is on fire!” said John, who was skateboarding with two friends.

While Brandon continued on to find his parents, John and his friends skateboarded about two blocks to the burning house.

“I watched for a few minutes,” John recalled, “and then I grabbed a hose,” aiming it through a front window that was cracking from the fire’s heat. “I just didn’t want the fire to move to any other part of the house because I could hear the animals inside.”

Fire engines pulled up to the house about four minutes after the emergency call and extinguished the flames a few minutes later, officials said.

“I’m just wow!” John said. “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe the other way around.”