Santa Rosa, California Boy Hailed as Hero

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) -- An 11-year-old Santa Rosa boy is being hailed as a hero this week for helping his mother and sister in time for them to flee a fast-moving house fire.

Andrew Missamore was in his upstairs bedroom Monday morning when he was awakened by a fire alarm.

Thinking fast, he ran downstairs to wake his mother and dial 911. The mother, in turn, ran upstairs to get her 2-year-old daughter, Abigail, who has autism.

''The smoke was so thick, another minute and I don't think I would have found her,'' said Patty Missamore, Andrew's mother.

Santa Rosa Fire Capt. David Cornelssen called Andrew a ''hero'' for taking action that likely saved several lives.

The fire destroyed the two upstairs bedrooms where the children slept in the fourplex.

Investigators said the blaze may have been started by a portable heater that was left on the dresser in the master bedroom.