CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) — A family of 13 is safe following a house fire in a Chicago neighborhood, and it’s all thanks to a 5-year-old boy.
Firefighters said seven adults and six children were inside the burning home on Marshfield near 50th. Family members said they were sleeping or unaware of the danger — except for 5-year-old Jayden Espinosa.
WBBM talked with Jayden with the permission of his family. “I was telling the things to Uncle James,” Jayden explained. "I was actually telling the truth. I was actually telling the truth to Uncle James."
“He’s a hero,” said James Bennett, his uncle. He woke me up and said Uncle James, the house is on fire, the house is on fire. Get up, get up, get up. I jumped out of bed. He wasn't telling a story, he was like - it was there."
““We lost everything inside. We lost baby clothes, pictures, IDs, social security cards, birth certificates. We lost everything,” Bennett adds.
Fortunately everyone inside managed to get out and watch the firefighters battle the early morning fire while out of harm’s way.
Nicole Peeples, his aunt, is one of the 13 now looking for another place to live after the fire.
“If he didn’t wake us up, in those two minutes, we would have been out of there,” Peeples said.
Firefighters have not yet determined an official cause of the fire. Family members said they will be staying at a hotel for the near future.