Casa Grande honors 12-year-old who saved family from house fire
Sep 2, 2016, 6:15 PM
Mayor Bob Jackson and Ashton Brown (Courtesy Arizona Connections Academy)
A 12-year-old from Casa Grande was awarded a community service honor Thursday after he saved his family from a blaze that destroyed their home.
Ashton Brown was on his family’s couch on July 26 and heard a loud noise that accompanied a flash of light outside.
He woke up his parents, who were asleep in bed, and as they got up to investigate the cause, smoke filled the house. The attic didn’t take long to be fully engulfed in flames — four minutes, according to the city.
The fire breached the home’s tile roof, which eventually collapsed.
The fire department credited Brown for helping his family and their pets evacuate the house safely.
Casa Grande’s mayor, Bob Jackson, and fire chief Scott Miller helped present the honor to Brown on Thursday.
Brown, a student at the online Arizona Connections Academy, told the Casa Grande Dispatch he now realizes the importance of fire safety tips.
The city’s fire department believes the blaze started when a ventilation fan in the house malfunctioned.
