BLUFF CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A 4-year-old boy is being credited for saving his family when their apartment caught fire. This week’s Community Hero proves that superheroes come in all sizes.
Rico Briggs and his little brother River are always on the move. But it was Rico’s actions that saved his family’s life after his father David left for work.
“We were all watching a movie just like normal, Just what we normally do on the weekends, and he had fell asleep on the couch,” Rico’s mom Moriah said. “So we were like, we should just leave him on the couch and just not mess with him at all.”
At 4 a.m., Rico woke his mom.
“I said, ‘Wake up Mommy, the house is fire!'” Rico said.
Moriah immediately got up.
“I immediately grabbed both of them, and with both of them in my hands, I went to kind of just assess, to see, just because it is a smaller apartment, I wanted to see where it was coming from to see where our exit would be,” she said. “So I saw that the fire was coming from underneath his door, his bedroom door.”
Moriah says that night proved that Rico listened when she taught him about fire safety.
“Because when he jumped on me, he said, ‘Mommy, the house is on fire.’ We need to get out,” she said. “So I’m just so blessed and so thankful that we were able to teach him what to do in that type of emergency.”
Rico’s quick thinking also rescued other families in the complex. The Briggs are staying with family while they try to rebuild, starting with the necessities. They also lost most of the items in the apartment, including toys.
Toys can be replaced, but the feeling of being a superhero will last.
