Local Texarkana Boy Scout Saves Home, Family from Fire

TEXARKANA, TEXAS, August 9, 2008 - Saturday night, my son Tristan Rigdon and his little sisters lay down to watch a movie downstairs - a reward after hours of hard yard work and good attitudes. His dad and I were upstairs watching TV. About 11:30, the girls were settled down, finally quiet, and watching the movie. As they began to get drowsy, Tristan noticed an odd smell, and noticed smoke beginning to billow around the corner into the living room. He screamed loudly up the stairs, "FIRE!" to alert his parents.

In seconds, his father was downstairs, choking and running through the smoke to determine the source. I followed seconds later, and dropped to the floor to find air. I looked for little feet. Seeing none, I panicked and began yelling at Tristan to round up the girls. Tristan yelled back that the door was locked, and I realized the key that locks and unlocks the door from the inside was upstairs. Thinking quickly, I began to tell Tristan to open the window, when he yelled back that he already had the girls out the window, and just needed the dog's leash. He brought the extra keys I had left in a vehicle and opened the door. I was shutting off the breakers, as his father readied to throw pots of water on the burning clothes dryer. As I left the house and yelled for Dad to follow, Tristan was telling me to call 911. He had already gotten his sisters and Chihuahua to the road, and was calming them. As I hung up from calling 911, my husband Keith came out to tell us the fire was extinguished.

Fire trucks roared onto the scene, police cars pulled up, and everyone took action to help. When the firemen went in, they discovered the remains of what was in the dryer still smoldering, so they removed the burning clothing and dryer to the backyard, without damaging anything in its path. High-powered fans were set up to clear the smoke from the home. Damages were assessed to be minimal, and the firemen and other officials packed up and went home.

We took a moment to reflect as we packed to go to a hotel room that my boss had kindly arranged for during our ordeal. Yes, we had a minor catastrophe that would cost some money to fix. Thankfully, we did not lose our home, and no one was injured or killed. I was so thankful that my son had remembered his training from Boy Scouts and school, and put it into effect flawlessly. He, along with all his scout leaders and the fire department, will be a hero to this family forever.