Addison Meyer was walking home from her friend’s house in late July when she noticed smoke and flames near a neighbor’s house.
“I saw like 15 foot flames in the backyard, so I immediately went back to my friend’s house and told them to call 911, but they couldn’t find their phone, so I went to my grandparent’s house and they called 911,” Addison recalled.
After notifying the authorities about the fire burning in the Erie backyard, the 11-year-old quickly helped to evacuate the house in case the flames spread. As a crowd gathered in response to the rising smoke, Addison retrieved a garden hose and handed it to some adults who used it to put the fire out.
Her quick actions to do exactly what was needed to be done were the reason that the Mountain View Fire Protection District honored her with a surprise award and ceremony on Tuesday at Flagstaff Academy in Longmont.
“Addison did something that’s pretty extraordinary,” Fire Marshal Jeff Webb said to Addison’s classmates.
He emphasized that Addison did everything right, notifying authorities, getting people to safety and putting water on a fire in a situation that was safe to do so. He added that had it been an indoor fire, she would not have put it out as going into a building on fire can expose people to poisonous gasses.
“This worked well because this was an outside fire,” Webb said.
Addison said in high stress situations, she’s pretty good at keeping a level head, which is why she was able to handle the situation so well. After making sure everyone was safe, she automatically started looking for ways to minimize the growth of the fire.
“It just kind of clicked. It’s just something that I know,” Addison said. “I’ve been around for 11 years, and you learn because they had the fire department come here every year in elementary school. I did learn a lot from that.”
Webb gave Addison a trophy recognizing her bravery to the applause of Addison’s schoolmates. Addison said she didn’t expect to receive the award in front of everyone, but said it was cool that it had happened.
As to whether she felt like a hero for her actions, Addison took the compliment in stride.
“You could say that,” she said.
