Ore. Teen, Mom Save Home From Fire

July 3, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A mother and her teenage son have been credited by firefighters with saving a home from massive damage in southeast Portland. Debbie Lampson and her family returned home Wednesday afternoon and said they heard popping sounds nearby on Southeast 141st Avenue. They then smelled something burning and said they began to check the area. Lampson said she found flames shooting from her neighbor's home. She then dialed 911 and called for her son, 16-year-old Parker Smith, to help.

PORTLAND, Ore. --

A mother and her teenage son have been credited by firefighters with saving a home from massive damage in southeast Portland.

Debbie Lampson and her family returned home Wednesday afternoon and said they heard popping sounds nearby on Southeast 141st Avenue. They then smelled something burning and said they began to check the area.

Lampson said she found flames shooting from her neighbor's home. She then dialed 911 and called for her son, 16-year-old Parker Smith, to help.

"By the time we got over there, it was already up to the second-floor window," Lampson said. "And it was just these amazing flames going straight up the house."

Smith grabbed a hose from his deck and started spraying the flames. He worked on the fire in an up-and-down motion while his mother stayed on the phone with emergency dispatchers.

"That's the first thing you do. I mean, you listen to what you're supposed to be doing and you take action and that's what I did," Smith said. "I took the hose and I just sprayed the fire."

By the time crews arrived at the scene, they said the majority of the fire had been put out by Smith.

Fire officials said the fire had stopped just before reaching the attic of the home and spreading into the shingle roof.

The fire was caused by a children's magnifying glass that was left on top of a box. The owner had just moved into the home. She said she would have lost everything if it weren't for Lampson and Smith.

The homeowner is now working on cleaning up the home so she can move in for good.

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