Young Uncle Saves 8-Year-Old Niece From Fire, Suffers Severe Burns, Says He ‘Would Do It Again’: Report

Mimi Nguyen Ly
By Mimi Nguyen Ly
July 9, 2019US News
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Young Uncle Saves 8-Year-Old Niece From Fire, Suffers Severe Burns, Says He ‘Would Do It Again’: Report
Stock photo of a fire. (Suhas Rawool/Pixabay)

A young uncle in Aberdeen, Washington successfully saved his 8-year-old niece from a house fire but sustained severe burns to his back and face. However, the 20-year-old said that he does not consider himself a hero and that he would do it again, according to a local report.

When a fire broke out at Derrick Byrd’s home early on July 4, he jumped into action to help his family members escape, KOMO News reported. But in the process, he sustained second- to third-degree burns to his body. He had to be airlifted to hospital.

“I’d do it again,” Byrd told KOMO News. “I really would. I don’t care,” he said from his hospital bed, face and body covered in gauze.

“I’d run back in there and do it again even if I got burnt worse or died.”

Inside the house were three children—his niece Mercedes and his nephews Junior and Rory—as well as the children’s mother (also Byrd’s sister) Kayla, according to the news outlet. Byrd was trying to help the three children leave the house through the second-floor window.

He told the news outlet that Kayla “wanted to get the kids out.” They were upstairs in Kayla’s room. Byrd ran downstairs to the outside and was burnt by the fire in the process. He then caught 6-year-old Junior and baby Rory as they escaped from the window.

But Mercedes, his 8-year-old niece was hesitant to jump. So when Kayla fell off the roof, Mercedes fell back into the burning room, the outlet reported.

“She [Mercedes] was screaming my name,” Byrd told KOMO. “So I wasn’t just going to let her sit there. I wasn’t going to let my niece die.”

He recalled to the news station that he rushed up the stairs and “pushed through the fire,” all the while feeling it burn.

“I got her and took my shirt off and put it around her face so she wouldn’t breathe in any smoke and I just carried her out as fast as I could,” he recounted.

Byrd had to be airlifted to the hospital—Harborview Medical Center. Mercedes and Junior were also airlifted to Harborview, according to the news report.

From his hospital bed, he expressed that he would not hesitate to do the same again.

aberdeen uncle derrick byrd
Derrick Byrd after a fire broke out at his home in Aberdeen, Wash. on July 4, 2019. (GoFundMe/Courtesy of Stephanie Allen)

“I’d do it again,” he said. “I really would. I don’t care. I really would. I’d run back in there and do it again even if I got burnt worse or died.”

Lt. C.J. Chastain of the Aberdeen Police Department described Byrd’s actions as heroic. Chastain said, according to Live5News: “He forced entry back into the residence even though it was fully involved with flames at that time.”

But Byrd said he didn’t consider himself a hero. He shared with KOMO he had only one simple thought, that “for my niece and nephews, I wasn’t going to let them die.”

According to a statement from the Aberdeen Police Department, the cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation. The Aberdeen Fire Department says the estimated cost of damages is $268,000.

Another sibling, Stephanie Allen, explained on a GoFundMe page that the family has lost their home and all their belongings in the fire and that they “have to start over from scratch.”

“My siblings’ house burned down in a fire … My brother [David Byrd] has 3rd degree burns all over the upper half of his body and my niece [Mercedes] is unable to breathe on her own as well as they are all in shock,” she wrote.

“Honestly at this point, anything will help. Food, clothes, prayers, passing this forward. The money that is donated will be going toward medical expense, to get clothes and shoes, as well as hopes to find another home.”

Simon Veazey contributed to this report

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