Keen Hutchinson Kansas Kid Alerts Family to House Fire

March 05--As 8-year-old Tyler Hudson was boarding the school bus Monday morning, he noticed smoke and flames coming from the roof of his home and called to his dad.

"I said my house is on fire," Tyler said later in the day, explaining how he reacted to what he saw. He told his father to get his younger brothers out of the house.

Edward Hudson, who was just heading back to the house after seeing Tyler get on the bus, ran inside to rescue Dakota, 6, and Dalton, 4, from the home at 503 Barnes Lake Road.

No one was injured in the fire, which began about 7:15 a.m., although the family's home was destroyed and everything inside gone. The fire was still under investigation Monday evening.

As fire crews arrived on the scene, they were met with heavy smoke, said Battalion Chief Rex Albright. Crews were inside, fighting the fire in a back room of the house when conditions changed rapidly.

"There was a flash-over," Albright said.

A flash-over occurs when unburned gases from plastics and glues, which become part of the smoke, heat up to about 900 degrees. Those substances start to ignite, creating a fireball inside the house. Crews quickly left the house, and within 30 seconds the ceiling collapsed.

"It was a good move on the command post to pull the men out," said Fire Chief Kim Forbes, who was on the scene.

Crews then began fighting the fire offensively from the outside.

Patricia Hudson, mother and wife, was just coming home from the night shift at Wal-Mart and was greeted by her husband, fire trucks and emergency vehicles outside her home.

"We don't know how it started, but it went up in smoke," Patricia Hudson said. "We've lost everything."

The American Red Cross of Central Kansas has come to the family's assistance.

"We are helping the family with their essential needs until they get back on their feet again," said Tara Ghere, Red Cross assistant director. They are temporarily putting the family up in a local motel.

Meanwhile, after reporting the fire Tyler continued on the bus to school. His brothers also headed off to school and the three children did not see their family home burn to the ground.

Tyler, a second-grader at Union Valley Elementary School, arrived at school and told his teacher that his house was on fire, and then went about his day like normal.

A shy, quiet boy, he was working on a "Toy Story" puzzle and waiting patiently for his mother to pick him up after school. When he told his mom he wanted to go home, she had to tell him there was no home to go to.

"What about the fish?" he asked his mother.

"They're gone," she said of the 135-gallon fish tank that was lost in the blaze.

"What about the water bed?"

"It's gone," Patricia Hudson said.

"Our blankets?" he said.

"The Red Cross has given us each a blanket," she said.

"Our pictures?" he said.

"Gone," she said.

"Patches?" Tyler asked of a family cat.

"Patches didn't make it," Patricia Hudson responded tearfully. By now Tyler and his mom were hugging.

But, like most children, he was resilient.

A minute later, he announced to his mom, "We're moving."

The family is currently in the process of remodeling a new home, said Patricia Hudson said, but it will be a while before it's ready for them to move in.

Without Tyler's actions, Monday might have turned out differently.

"If it wasn't for him, there's no telling what would've happened," Patricia said. "I told him that, and he just smiled."