Texas teen walking home from practice dashed into burning home to save child

A child in Texas is safe thanks to a teen’s split-second decision Monday night, fire officials say.

Gabriel Vivoni, 17, he had just gotten home from swim practice when he noticed something odd in his Mansfield neighbor’s garage — flames, KXAS reported. Vivoni says he knocked on the door to no avail, then ran home to call 911 before returning to his neighbor’s house.

Vivoni says he knew his 11-year-old neighbor was typically home alone until later in the evening, so he decided to break into the house to check on the child, KTVT reported.

Fire officials told McClatchy news group that Vivoni entered the house through the garage before much smoke had entered the rest of the home. He found the child asleep on the couch in front of the television, the Dallas Morning News reported.

“The boy was like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’” Vivoni told the newspaper. “And I was like, ‘Hey man, there’s a fire in your house right now. We gotta get out of here!’”

Vivoni then escorted the boy through the front door, fire officials told McClatchy.

The cause of fire is still under investigation, but no one was injured in the blaze, KTVT reported.

McClatchy news group reached out to Mansfield Fire Department for comment.

This story was originally published November 5, 2019 at 10:51 AM.