Colorado deputies and child credited for rescue during fire: "He's our hero"
The Unruh family home is a charred mess, but they are alive and thankful; very thankful.
"I couldn't let them go," said mother Renee Unruh, about being reunited with them outside the home on South Gibraltar Lane. "I don't ever want to be apart from them."
Her 8-year-old son Grayson and 14-year-old daughter Ava Grace were home when the fire started and survived by getting out. When they reached the backyard, arriving deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office got to them and pulled them free to safety, climbing over and ripping away a fence.
"I'm so blessed that they were here. And they made the initiative -- no matter what -- to get my kids," said Renee Unruh.
"As I got near the house I heard the kids screaming my first thought was they were still inside," Arapahoe County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan McConnell said. "Obviously they were terrified. Had no idea what was going on. Both of them were screaming and crying."
"Both of us being parents too, they were somebody's kids," said Deputy Chris Calderon.
Black smoke was pouring out of the vents and the front door as they hustled the two kids away from the house.
Renee Unruh and her husband Steven weren't home at the time, but only a few miles away. They were back at her mother's house as they often have been over the past year after it was heavily damaged by a fire that started with a space heater about a year ago. Renee could see the smoke from the fire in the distance, not knowing it was the family home.
Her daughter called her and they went back to the house quickly. Her daughter wondered what more might she have done, but to a mother, the house mattered far less than their lives.
"Try explaining that to a 14-year-old. You know, what could I have done? I said 'you did the right thing, you got yourself out. That was the best thing in the world,'" Renee said.
The part of the story she soon learned was that it was Grayson who alerted his sister.
"He was yelling Ava, Ava! And kept yelling Ava, Ava," Renee said. Grayson has Down syndrome and does well in school. His family knows he's special and this occasion was a reminder.
"He kind of saved her life," Renee said as her voice broke. "He's our hero."
Grayson was calling downstairs to his sister to get out.
"Ava opened the door because she was down in her sister's room and she saw the red," their mother said. She shut the door as fast as she could.
She climbed out a window. Grayson went out the door upstairs. The deputies reached them in the yard and pulled them out.
In addition to the heroism, the family has been buoyed by support. The principal and others from Grayson's school, Peakview Elementary arrived at the house Monday along with others from the school to offer help. The Red Cross has helped the family get temporary lodging.
But there is sadness, too. The family dog died in the fire. Two kittens are still missing. And the burden of rebuilding their lives is still ahead.
The family has started a fundraising page online to seek community support.
Ava Grace and Grayson are safe and doing well. But it's a day they and their family will never forget.
"He does brighten everyone's day and he obviously can save lives," his mother said.
