Detectors and 7-yr. Old Save Boston Family

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent
The Boston Globe

Smoke detectors awoke 7-year-old Jack Gilbride shortly after midnight yesterday. But they didn't rouse his 76-year-old grandfather, who slept on the first floor of their Roslindale home as flames raged through the family's upstairs apartment. Shouting to his father and younger sister to get outside, Jack bolted down the stairs and into his grandfather's apartment.

Now, Jack's family and neighbors are calling him a hero.

``I ran downstairs really quickly,'' Jack said. ``I didn't want to ring the doorbell because I thought that would take too much time, so I just opened the door and shouted.''

Joseph Michaud, an Army veteran, lost an eye during the Korean War and is legally blind. He has had heart problems and spent most of yesterday undergoing tests at a nearby hospital.

Jack's 42-year-old father, John, and 4-year-old sister Theresa escaped unharmed, as did his uncle, Kevin, who lived with Jack's grandfather in the downstairs apartment in the brown, double-decker on Farquhar Street.

The fire started at about 12:40 a.m., when a candle left burning overnight spread flames through the kitchen, said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. Power had been cut to the neighborhood Saturday night as NStar workers fought a nearby manhole fire, neighbors said, so the Gilbrides were using the candle for light. The fire caused $100,000 in damage, MacDonald said.

The fire was brought under control in about 15 minutes. Fire crews remained for several hours to ensure the blaze was out.

Jack's mother, Debra, 40, had spent Saturday night in the hospital as a volunteer test subject in a university-administered sleep study and said she knew nothing of the devastating fire until she returned at 6:30 a.m. yesterday finding the home burned, its upper floor destroyed, and her son hailed as a hero.

``He's good in tough situations. He doesn't get nervous,'' she said proudly.

The Gilbrides plan to spend the next few nights in a hotel as they look for an interim place to stay. Neighbors brought linens and clothes to the Gilbrides, who gathered outside their charred home as crews began the lengthy cleanup process. The Red Cross reached out to assist the family, MacDonald said.

Jack said he learned fire safety from his parents and at Holy Name Elementary School in West Roxbury, where he is in the second grade. He said he doesn't consider his actions to be anything more than what anyone would have done.

``I'm just thinking happy stuff because I helped all those people,'' he said. ``I didn't want them to get burned, so I woke them up.''

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Officials: Boy woke dad during fire

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Permalink Reply by Mick Shelley on May 25, 2009 at 12:55pm

It's always good to hear a story that has a positive turnout to it.

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Permalink Reply by Janet Enbody on May 25, 2009 at 1:27pm

Jack is an angel that God Placed in the right place at the right time....he is a true hero. God Bless him.

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Permalink Reply by ardelean antonio on May 25, 2009 at 2:23pm

god was whit them!

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Permalink Reply by Wes on May 25, 2009 at 2:35pm

A quick thinking young man, does anyone know if this was on the BG front page? It sure belongs there!

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Permalink Reply by Tracy Nornhold on May 25, 2009 at 3:44pm

What a wonderful story. The boy is a hero, as are the folks who taught him fire safety!

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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on May 25, 2009 at 4:50pm

Well done Jack.
Here is a prime example of the importance of fire safety education in the school system. Hat's off to ya little man.
Happy Memorial Day to the folks in US.