LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Ever wondered if the fire safety lessons they teach in school actually save lives? Well, 8-year-old Nahzir Grant can set you straight.
They do, and Nahzir would know.
His Rolling Hills townhouse was destroyed by fire on Oct. 9, but there were no injuries – thanks to Nahzir and his brother Julian, 4.
The brothers were in their bedroom “and the bathroom has a door to our bedroom and the lights went out and me and my brother we ran downstairs and told my mom and dad,” Nahzir said.
But before he did, he did something he learned from Melissa Vishio, the Pottsgrove health teacher who holds classes in Ringing Rocks Elementary School, where Nahzir is a second grader.
“Talk about good timing,” she said with a laugh as Nahzir’s classmates clamored to climb onto the Ringing Hill fire trucks that were parked outside for a Fire Prevention Week presentation.
“My health teacher told us that if there is a fire, to see if the door is hot, and I felt it, and it wasn’t hot, so we ran downstairs and I saw fire on the way,” Nahzir said.
Lower Pottsgrove Fire Marshal Lew Babel said Nahzir’s house was “a complete loss” as a result of the fire.
The young hero said the things he is most sad about losing are his books.
“I have wrestling books and Teen Titans,” he said, noting that he was working to become part of the school’s “100 Book Club.”
In case you were wondering, his favorite Teen Titan is Robin, and his favorite wrestler is John Cena “because he always wins.”
Ringing Rocks Principal Lisa Jones said young Nahzir has become a bit of a celebrity around school.
“He was kind of shy at first, which is understandable. His house caught fire,” she said. “But everyone has been calling him a hero and you can see in his face that he is really proud,” she said.