9-yr-old was watching TV with siblings when he smelled smoke — he opened the door to the den and ran to save his family

The mom was very proud of her son and very grateful that he saved their entire family.

PUBLISHED JAN 6, 2025

(L) Siblings watching TV at home. (R) Frightened kids running away from home. (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | Vika Glitter and cottonbro studio)

Sometimes, a person's presence of mind can save multiple people's lives. The quick thinking might also come from unexpected people in certain scenarios. A nine-year-old who saved his family's lives with his on-the-feet thinking during a fire is being hailed as a hero. The boy was watching TV with his siblings when he smelled smoke and immediately sprang into action to save himself and his family, as per a clip shared by Inside Edition on YouTube.

A house on fire. Representative Image Source: Pexels | Pixabay

The boy was watching TV with his siblings on a couch when he smelled something weird. He thought there was smoke coming from somewhere. So, the 9-year-old, Tristin Cook, got up to check what was the matter. He opened the door to a room and found out that it was on fire. He immediately ran to call his mom and alerted his siblings about what was happening. "Mom, there is a fire!" the boy shouted as he ran to alert his mom about what was happening. He kept calling out to his mom until she heard him and repeated, "Mom, fire!" throughout the time to get her attention to the situation at hand. He kept calling his mom as his siblings went out of the drawing room and ran to safety after they heard him.

A boy standing outside the house. Representative Image Source: Pexels | RDNE Stock Project — A boy is standing outside the house. Representative Image Source: Pexels | RDNE Stock Project

Fortunately, the whole family was saved. Although the house was burnt down, nobody in the family was hurt because of the oldest child's quick thinking. "Everyone came out unscathed," the mom, Tracy Cook, told the outlet. She felt grateful for what her son managed to do that day. The mom agreed that the boy had saved the whole family and said, "He is our little hero. He was so diligent about sticking with it and saying Mom, Mom, Mom, there's a fire." Even his siblings agreed that their big brother acted like a true hero for the family by saving their lives from the fire. "I heard this pop noise in the office room and I smelled smoke," Tristan told WTVF.

A scared little boy. Representative Image Source: Pexels | Mikhail Nilov

"It scared me bad," the boy recounted as he ran to inform his mom, who was taking a nap at the time and dad who was in the garage. The mom explained that the fire had engulfed the family's home in a matter of minutes. The boy's siblings had followed him out of the room as well. The mom found out about all of this when she looked at the footage of the ring camera she had set up to keep an eye on her children as per the outlet. "I was so proud and so blessed. He got us all out. He warned us all," the woman expressed.

The thankful mom pointed out, "But if anything had happened to them, I wouldn't be able to wake up. I mean, we are family." The fire is believed to have started because of a short circuit of some type at the house. They did end up losing everything in the fire, but they are hopeful that these things can be replaced and rebuilt. Even the kids' Christmas gifts were lost, but the McEwen community has come forward to help replace all of the gifts.