DETROIT – A 15-year-old babysitter helped six children out of house fire Monday morning on Detroit’s east side.
The fire started at about 4:30 a.m. in a home on College Street. Authorities said the fire appears to have been started by a television.
Neighbors said the 15-year-old boy helped get the younger children out of the burning home. He also tried to salvage what he could from the home, removing items in a laundry basket.
“We looked out the window and saw the trucks and the hoses out here,” Brenda Lowe said. “It ate my heart out to see the kids suffering, and fear can be very powerful with kids that age, so that’s when I told my granddaughter to tell the oldest boy to come over here.”
Lowe gave the children Popsicles to calm them down.
“We were just trying to help ease them and calm them down,” Lowe said. “I think they felt a little better after that.”
The children’s godmother picked up the children and took them to the hospital
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but police said it does not appear to be arson.
Neighbors said they believed there was an illegal power hook up to the house. DTE said there hasn't been an active customer at the home since December.
Child Protective Services was called, but the teenager is old enough to babysit and police said charges against their mother are unlikely.