The boy saw smoke and alerted his mother in time for everyone to flee the apartment uninjured.
By MEGAN SCOTT
Published October 12, 2004
CLEARWATER - Christopher Turner usually wakes up about every four hours.
Then he goes back to sleep.
But when the 10-year-old opened his eyes at 2 a.m. Sunday, he saw smoke. He tried to flip the light switch on so he could see. Then he ran across the hall to his mother's room and banged on the door:
"Mommy, the house is on fire," he cried.
"I actually saw the flames," said Christopher, a fifth-grader at McMullen Booth Elementary School. "I thought that I was going to die."
Martha Dorsey, who is three months pregnant, opened her bedroom door, grabbed her son Christopher's arm and pulled him inside.
Her boyfriend, Anwar Richardson, 25, broke a window and helped them crawl out. Christopher went to a neighbor's house to call 911. Then they watched as their three-bedroom apartment burst into flames.
"We saw flames on the wall behind the television coming up toward the ceiling," said Dorsey, 26, who works at the National Foundation for Debt Management. "It was coming out of the windows. It was traumatic."
The fire ravaged the three-bedroom apartment in Jasmine Courts and spread to the unit next door. No one was injured, thanks to Christopher. He almost wasn't there that night.
Christopher's two younger sisters were staying at their grandmother's house in Safety Harbor. Christopher hadn't wanted to go, even though they were having pizza, his favorite food.
"He was concerned about his mom because normally he follows me," said his grandmother Cora Burney. "He never talks back to his mom. He stayed home Saturday night. Sunday morning the house was on fire. Lucky he was there."
Officials aren't sure what caused the fire, said spokesman Jeffrey Camden. The smoke alarm was broken. Investigators left the scene at 7 a.m. Monday.
Camden said the apartment is unlivable, but could not estimate the extent of the damage.
Christopher and his mother returned to the apartment Monday to see what they could salvage. Christopher saved his bike. His mother grabbed a couple of birth certificates. Everything else was ruined.
The family has no insurance.
"We're basically starting from scratch," Dorsey said. "We couldn't save anything. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
The American Red Cross has put the family in a motel and given them clothing and toiletries. The children, however, are staying with their grandmother in Safety Harbor. The family is hoping to move into another apartment in Jasmine Courts.
Christopher, who loves tennis and volleyball, met with his guidance counselor Monday. She gave him school supplies and a new backpack. Normally a shy boy, he stood up and told his class what happened.
"I'm still a little shaken up," he said Monday evening. "I told my class and I was just shivering. But I'm okay."
The family is lauding him as their hero.
"He is my guardian angel," said Dorsey. "He deserves all the commending."
