“Mama, hot.”
Those two simple words from the mouth of a 2-year-old saved his whole family from what could have been a fatal fire in their Alvord, Tex., home.
Nathan and Kayla Dahl were both on the mend from COVID-19, and the infection had had a very common side-effect on the couple: They had both lost their sense of smell. That’s why they both slept soundly and didn’t smell the smoke that was quickly overtaking their house as it burned in the middle of the night on January 15.
That’s when little Brandon Dahl became a hero.
“He tapped me on my feet in bed and was coughing and saying, ‘Mama, hot. Mama, hot,’” Kayla told Good Morning America. “I turned around. I looked and all I saw was flames in the doorway.”
Their home and everything in it would eventually be engulfed by the flames, but Nathan, Kayla, and all five of their children were all able to escape the blaze.
The couple believes a gas heater in their living room was the point of origin. They said it was only after they had exited the home that their fire alarm began to sound.
It was also helpful, they said, that Nathan has been a volunteer firefighter for the past six years and had his family well-prepared for such a potentially-catastrophic event. But it’s highly possible that none of that preparation would have mattered were it not for the wherewithal of a toddler.
“Everything is gone. We lost my car. Everything inside the house,” Kayla said. “Brandon saved us. He was wrapped in God's arms to help protect him and to make sure that our entire family was able to get out.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Dahl family get back on their feet.
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