Teen Rescues Grandparents From N.C. House Fire

GREENSBORO -- A 13-year-old went into a house on fire this afternoon to help guide his grandparents to safety.

Quinlan Stewart, a seventh-grader at Guilford Middle School, said he was walking home from his bus stop when he noticed smoke at his family's house at 2208 Vanstory St.

He said he pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth and led his grandparents out a back door.

His 10-year-old sister Shayla had already escaped unharmed, he said.

Jackie Castro, a 14-year-old neighbor, said she pulled the family's dog out but couldn't breathe because of the smoke so she wasn't able to reach the grandparents.

Quinlan said he found his grandparents in different rooms, one in the kitchen and one in the downstairs den.

His grandmother, Faye McKeel, said her husband was downstairs trying to put out the fire. They think it was an electrical fire because they heard a popping noise, she said.

McKeel, 78, said when her grandson came in the backdoor, she told him she was worried about "Poppa" who was still downstairs dealing with the fire. She said Quinlan went downstairs to find him.

"He came in and made sure everybody was out," she said.

Quinlan said he was a little scared to go into the house.

"It was real smoky. You couldn't see and breathe that much," he said.

Greensboro firefighters said no one was injured in the fire, which they responded to shortly after 4 p.m. The fire may have started in the basement, a firefighter said.

Copyright 2013 - News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.