FL Teen Hailed as Hero after Blaze

Oct. 19 -- LAKELAND, FL -- Keshaun Smith set his mind on becoming a firefighter at age 13.

He can now say he has experience with putting out a blaze.

Smith, 18, was in his room watching YouTube videos Wednesday night when he heard his grandmother call out the word, "Fire!"

Smith's grandfather, Trevor Clarke, had gone outside with the family's dog about 9:45 p.m. when he heard someone calling from across the street.

Wynette Clarke, Trevor's wife, said he heard a young woman cry out, "Can you help us? The house is on fire."

Clarke rushed into his own house to get a flashlight and then headed across the street. About that time, Smith heard his grandmother calling to him.

Smith said he jumped up from his computer and went into the kitchen, where he grabbed a pair of disposable fire extinguishers and bolted outside, racing toward the house at 2507 Crystal Lake Acres Drive.

"He took off running," Wynette Clark said. "My husband said he ran past him. He said, 'Keshaun went by me like a flash'."

Once inside the house, Smith said he encountered smoke that made it difficult to see. But he determined the fire was in the kitchen.

He sprayed fire retardant at the blaze and soon subdued the flames. He said the fire had started with a greased pan on a stove.

"It was blazing up and getting ready to spread out, and I stopped it in time," said Smith, a student at West Area Adult School. "It was on the stove, the ceiling and the walls."

Having put the fire out, Smith said he checked on the inhabitants of the house. He found one young woman asleep, and he woke her and urged her to go outside. He said the woman's sister had already left the house.

Smith said he found one of the family's two dogs, an elderly American pitbull named Smoke, and led him outside. He then went back in the house and picked up a tank containing three pet pythons and carried it outside.

"It was funny because even my husband said, 'Keshaun was braver than me because once I saw there were those snakes, I couldn't go in there'."

Smith said he re-entered the house in hopes of turning off the electrical power, but he hadn't yet found the circuit breakers when a crew from Polk County Fire Rescue arrived.

After the fire crew's arrival, Smith said he talked to the two young women who lived in the house.

"They said they thanked me very much," he said.

Wynette Clarke said the women's grandmother was at work and didn't arrive home until after the fire crew had arrived.

Smith said he talked to fire crew members for a long time after it was clear the threat of fire had been subdued.

"They were asking me what started the fire," he said. "They were saying I'm a hero and they don't have to do any stuff today. They said I'm a young fireman."

Does Smith consider himself a hero?

"Mmm, nah," he said. "But I do want to become a fireman."

He said he experienced some irritation in his throat from inhaling smoke but did not require medical treatment.

Chris Jonckheer, a spokesman for Polk County Fire Rescue, confirmed that a truck responded to a call that came in Wednesday night at 9:49. Jonckheer said the crew reported no major structural damage to the house.

"It was contained to the kitchen," Jonckheer said. "Because of his (Smith's) action, there was a lot less damage than there could have been."

Wynette Clarke said she and her husband, who are raising Smith, emphasize the importance of caring for others. She said Smith had gone with her Wednesday afternoon to deliver pudding and Jello and other provisions to an elderly woman whose husband is unable to eat solid food because of an illness.

She said she wasn't surprised by her grandson's actions.

"He's just an impulsive person, so when something like that happens, that's just his impulse is to react," she said

___ (c)2018 The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) Visit The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) at www.theledger.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.