Teenager receives award after saving baby sister from house fire

A teenage boy who saved his six-month-old sister from a house fire in Leek has been recognised with a special commendation.

Riley Anderson, aged 18, received the award at a ceremony last night (Tuesday 19 May), attended by his proud family.

At 8.40am on Thursday 16 April, Riley was at his home on Novi Lane when he heard a power bank, which was inside his mum’s bedroom, start to hiss. He then saw smoking coming from the bedroom.

Realising his six-month-old sister was in a cot inside the bedroom, he quickly entered the room and picked her up before shouting ‘fire’ and making sure the rest of his family left the house.

Two crews attended the scene; the fire was extinguished and nobody was reported injured.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Glynn Luznyj, who presented the award, said: “Riley’s actions were nothing short of heroic that day and thanks to his quick actions, nobody was injured in the fire.

“He did the right thing by alerting his family and making sure everybody got out of the house and did not return to collect belongings or try to extinguish the fire themselves.”

Riley’s mum, Stacey, said: “We are really proud of Riley’s actions that day and would like to make people aware of the dangerous of charging power banks overnight.”