8-year-old boy saves 6 in blaze before dying while trying to save another

[cali]

A fourth-grade boy died in a fire in his grandfather's Penfield, N.Y., trailer home after helping to save six of his relatives. Tyler Doohan, 8, had returned to the blaze in an attempt to help rescue his disabled uncle, reports the Democrat & Chronicle.

Tyler, his uncle Steve Smith and his grandfather Louis J. Beach died in the inferno this past weekend.

According to the Democrat & Chronicle, citing investigators, Tyler took it upon himself to wake his sleeping relatives once he detected the fire at around 4:45 a.m. on Monday. Two of the people Tyler helped save were children, ages 4 and 6. Tyler's body was found near the bed of his deceased uncle.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/8-year-old-boy-saves-six-in-blaze-before-dying-while-trying-to-save-another-221718265.html

Poverty killed that child and his uncle and grandfather

[malaise]

1. Too sad

What a little hero

[daleanime]

2. 9 people in 'trailer' home?

Hell yes poverty killed them.

[MoonRiver]

3. No words

[AgingAmerican]

18. Welcome to supply side, trickle down America

Enjoy your stay.

[daleanime]

29. As short as it maybe...

it will be a lifetime.

[LWolf]

63. A lot of my students

live just like that. And those are the ones lucky enough to HAVE a roof to call home. More don't. Some bed down on the couches of friends and relatives; a different place every night so nobody gets tired of hosting them. One is living in a camper. I've got one that I've opened school to on early mornings so she can shower and do a load of laundry in the small facility we keep for laundering cleaning rags.

An evolved society would not tolerate poverty at any level.

[Liberalynn]

64. This happened in a nearby town

and just to clarify not all of them may have been actual residents of the trailer home. The victim's mother said he had been invited for a sleep over at his grandpa's house with his cousins. It was not clear how many lived there on a regular basis. That does not of course change the horror of this tragedy or the heroism of this little boy.

[Justice]

4. If you read all of the stories, Tyler was there to spend the day with his uncle/grandfather.

Sad beyond words.

[cali]

6. yes, it's sad beyond words, and yes, poverty killed them.

[riverwalker]

5. hero

Rest In Peace little Angel.

[notundecided]

35. What does RIP really mean?

I've never understood that.

[historylovr]

42. Requiescat (or requiescant) in pace.

May he/she (or they) rest in peace. There should be long vowel symbols over the e's in requiescat and the a in pace.

[Nay]

7. Poor little guy. It's just awful.

[MineralMan]

8. I'm not sure that poverty is the take-away here.

I'm pretty sure that this boy's heroism is the thing to remember.

Just my opinion, really.

[daleanime]

14. I beg to disagree...

if his heroism is what you remember from this, what are you doing to help prevent incidents like this from happening? Its merely allowing yourself to look away.

But if you remember what cost these people their lives, even if only to talk about it. Your helping to raise awareness for one of the fundamental problems of our time. Call it poverty, or wealth inequality, or what ever.... We have to face the unpleasant truths if we want anything to change. Wouldn't you rather live in a world where this young man could have done some thing else with his life.

Just the way I see it.

[MineralMan]

16. Here's the thing: Fires can, and do, occur

in housing at all levels. In this case, the fire happened in a mobile home park. In this case, there happened to be 9 people in the mobile home that burned.

An 8-year-old boy did his very best to save the people in that mobile home. If the fire had occurred in a regular house, he would have done the same thing, I'm sure. If it had occurred in a McMansion, he would have done the same thing, as well. In this case, it occurred in a mobile home in a mobile home park. Are those people poor? Possibly, but lots of people live in mobile homes. Elderly people, young people, families, and more make their homes in mobile homes.

So, it's not really where the fire occurred that matters here. Fires occur everywhere. It's not that there were nine people in that mobile home. I've had twelve people staying in my house at one time. They were there because the power was out in their homes and their furnaces wouldn't run. Now, if there had been a fire in my house while they were staying there until the power was restored, would that mean that I was poor?

Poverty isn't the question here. A fire happened, and a young boy died after getting six of those people out of the house, while trying to save his uncle, who had lost a leg and couldn't get around well.

It is the boy who is the story here, and his selfless heroism.

Perhaps the people living in that mobile home were poor. But the story isn't their poverty. The story is the heroism of one boy, who sadly lost his life.

Fires happen to the rich and the poor alike. Heroism knows nothing about wealth or poverty.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. It's worth keeping in mind.

The nature of the dwelling influenced factors like the time the fire took to spread, the density of people inside the structure, the ease of access to the exits, etc. It's a factor.

But you are correct, the prime story here is the kid, and what he chose to do.

Fuck I got some dust in my eye...

[MineralMan]

21. Yah, me too.

The heroism is spectacular in this story. But mobile homes don't necessarily mean poverty. Truly they don't. That's an old meme.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Absolutely.

Could have been any number of reasons.

[morningfog]

66. Seriously? I think you are wrong.

Are you suggesting that people middle to upper income live in trailers at rates equal to or greater than the poor?

Are you seriously suggesting that a family of 9 would live in a trailer if they could afford something better? Because that would be kind of stupid.

[Egnever]

36. Well said

The continual need to be outraged on this board is growing tiresome.

[Stargazer99]

48. Poverty does matter-get your head out of denial

apparently, you've not had to deal with poverty. Poor housing, old equipment, old wiring, many things the middleclass or well to do don't have to deal with.

[MineralMan]

49. You know nothing about me.

Clearly.

[840high]

55. Yes. May he rest in peace.

[strategery blunder]

60. Poverty may also be a factor in response times

It's entirely possible that the area in which the family resided has an insufficient tax base to fund adequate and efficient public services, which would manifest in longer or delayed response times from emergency services. An extreme but well-known example of this phenomenon would be Detroit.

If that is indeed the case (and that is indeed an if, but a realistic possibility), young Tyler might well have found that alerting his family to the fire was not enough, that the fire department could not or would not get there in time and therefore concluded that he must take it upon himself to extricate his relatives. He certainly wouldn't have explained it like that, but I could see him thinking "The firemen still aren't here and I still have family inside, so I must get them out!"

Yes delayed fire/EMS response can happen to wealthy people too, but it is certainly more common in poor or rural areas.

RIP Taylor.

[morningfog]

65. Poor people live in trailers.

9 people in on trailer are impoverished. Trailers are exponentially worse in a fire.

But for their poverty, they would have been in a safer home. But for their poverty, there would not have been 9 in one place needing rescue.

The boy's heroism is one story. The boy's heroism and the deaths were unnecessary and avoidable and a product of poverty.

[tkmorris]

20. I'm sure we can manage both

[MineralMan]

22. No doubt, but the heroism of this boy

is at the heart of this story, not the poverty, which wasn't even mentioned in the story. We do not know anything about the people who were in that mobile home. We do know that this 8-year-old saved six of them and lost his life trying to save another. That is the story, and that is what we can take from it. How many of us would do as that boy did? He's a hero.

I grow weary of politicizing every story in the news.

[Blue Diadem]

33. It is about heroism and about

family helping family. Acknowledging their difficulty in no way takes away from what that little boy did.

This article contains more info:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2014/01/20/fire-chief-he-saved-those-other-six-people-/4668401/

[morningfog]

67. You spend your time in a political discussion board.

Your weariness is in your control.

[MineralMan]

68. Thanks for letting me know.

I had never thought about that before.

[morningfog]

71. Obviously.

I'm here to help!

[cali]

69. revolting. sorry but poverty is fucking clearly a huge piece of this story. It's disgusting

and disgraceful to deny it.

just fuck.

[MineralMan]

70. I see. OK, then.

[erpowers]

40. Make Sure You Have Smoke Detectors

One of the things I heard on the news was that the family did not have smoke detectors in any of the rooms. It was said that if there had been smoke detectors in every room the boy might not have had to go back in the house so many times because everyone might have heard the smoke detectors.

[MineralMan]

41. Yes, smoke alarms are important, as are CO2 alarms.

All too often, they are not there or have been disabled or a new battery hasn't been installed. That's always a mistake. A common one, too.

[hamsterjill]

9. Honor.

The idea of putting another above self is the ultimate human sacrifice. It is honorable.

An eight year old child selflessly doing that is honor beyond words.

RIP sweet Tyler and know that you did well.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

28. This ^^^^^ 1,000,000 times. Tyler, you are a hero in the truest sense. It is for people like you

that I hope there is indeed a heaven. You deserve for there to be.

[colorado_ufo]

10. Tyler, you may have been a little boy, but you died a man.

There was nothing more this life could teach you.

Rest in peace, dear heart.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Expound on your position that "poverty killed that child..." please.

Would you have made that statement if it had been nine people in a stick built house?

[frylock]

13. what's the square footage?

[MineralMan]

17. That's irrelevant. In fact, it was a smaller mobile home.

However, the fact that nine people were there could mean almost anything. It could mean that they were poor, or it could mean that they were visiting from out of town and sleeping on the floor and couches, just like my family used to do when visiting out of town relatives.

Fires can strike any home. The story here is this boy's heroism, not the wealth or lack of wealth of the people involved. Heroism knows nothing about wealth. It is something else.

This story is about heroism, not the politics of poverty. It is about a boy who gave up his life in an attempt to save everyone in that home. It is not about politics, and shouldn't be made to be about politics.

[frylock]

26. "Some witnesses reportedly expressed concern about the number of people living in the home."

Some of us are gifted enough to be able to multitask by honoring young Tyler for his valor while also discussing the level of poverty his family may have experienced.

[MineralMan]

27. And some of us try to focus on the real story, rather

than the politics behind it. I may have missed your expression of recognition of the boy's heroism in this thread. Thanks for your reply.

[bettyellen]

30. the poverty that leads to electrical fires, and dangers of overcrowded housing is a very real story

as well, and it takes nothing away from this child's heroism to acknowledge the issues that put this family at a grave disadvantage.

[frylock]

31. i'm not going to gloss over the situation that required several people..

to live in a crowded mobile home with out any smoke detectors. I understand that some people don't want to trouble their beautiful minds thinking about such things.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

38. I'm thinking of editing Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire Wiki page to focus on the ....

.... heroism of the victims versus the conditions that put them at risk. Whaddya think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
"I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship. We have tried you good people of the public and we have found you wanting.... We have tried you citizens; we are trying you now, and you have a couple of dollars for the sorrowing mothers, brothers and sisters by way of a charity gift. But every time the workers come out in the only way they know to protest against conditions which are unbearable, the strong hand of the law is allowed to press down heavily upon us.

Public officials have only words of warning to us—warning that we must be intensely peaceable, and they have the workhouse just back of all their warnings. The strong hand of the law beats us back, when we rise, into the conditions that make life unbearable.

I can't talk fellowship to you who are gathered here. Too much blood has been spilled. I know from my experience it is up to the working people to save themselves. The only way they can save themselves is by a strong working-class movement."[42]

[Aerows]

51. I will never be that person, but you can see me as such.

I will never be that dragon institute and horrible situation. Accusing me of it does not make me of it, and I believe I've illustrated my conscience and beliefs far better than anyone else yelling at me that they haven't.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

56. Say what now?

[TBF]

62. Well, in this OP the topic was the accompanying poverty -

there have been so many stories on this child. In the mainstream media the focus is on the heroism.

Since this is supposedly a democratic party website with folks who care about things like living conditions, cali made the statement "Poverty killed that child and his uncle and grandfather". So, that's the topic - not your attempt to focus on something else.

I get that he's a hero - I really do. This was just a different OP to deal with another factor.

I've noticed the past few days that if anyone talks about economic inequality or poverty they are accused of "fake outrage". Why is that? Is that the directive of the week from the democratic party headquarters?

[Gormy Cuss]

57. If a double wide, about 1100 SF.

Your point? If it's that 9 is way too many people for that space, you're talking to the wrong DUer. I grew up in a slightly larger house (1200-1400 SF) with never fewer than 7 people and generally 8 or 9.

[Barack_America]

12. I'm not sure I've made that much of an impact in decades of life.

RIP, Tyler. Your loss is truly ours.

[sulphurdunn]

15. It's easy for trailers

to burn when it gets cold. Especially old ones. The temperatures in Penfield at night have been around 4 degrees. This is probably happening a lot right now in a lot of places.

[PowerToThePeople]

24. It is a poverty issue.

This is an older article, but I doubt the numbers have changed drastically.

While the rate of fire fatalities is 7 per thousand in houses, it is 17 per thousand in mobile homes. The extra deadliness is probably because the dense packing on mobile homes give fire quicker and more violent combustion, fire experts say.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/04/us/life-in-a-trailer-park-on-the-edge-but-hoping.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

I could probably pull out similar stats for trailer parks and other natural disasters.

The boy is a Hero, but sadly poverty is the cause that created the awful situation for this heroism to occur.

[Egnever]

37. Ridiculous

The very quote you posted states the discrpancy comes from materials used to build mobile homes and their near proximity to each other not poverty.

Telling as well that you chose to edit out the first part of the paragraph from your link.

Thanks to Federal safety requirements imposed in 1974, mobile homes are less likely to experience a fire than standard homes, said Alan D. Miller, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance. "But when they have a fire, they're much more likely to result in total loss," he said. While the rate of fire fatalities is 7 per thousand in houses, it is 17 per thousand in mobile homes. The extra deadliness is probably because the dense packing on mobile homes give fire quicker and more violent combustion, fire experts say. Plans to Escape Fire And the Trailer Life

[PowerToThePeople]

45. Wealthy people are not packed like sardines in their tiny homes.

Last edited Wed Jan 22, 2014, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I honestly can not believe you even posted this. You sound like a Fox News anchor.

edit - I did not edit anything out on purpose. I posted the stats for deaths. I does not matter what the rate of fires is, it matters how many people die. So, in reality, trailers are MUCH more fatal than non-trailers in a fire situation.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

52. Word. It never ceases to amaze me that certain DUers just can't wait to jump to the defense of RW

talking points.

[PowerToThePeople]

61. please continue

What .RW talking points are being repeated?

[kcr]

58. Tell us why it is you think that poverty doesn't factor in here?

Who do you think it is living in the mobile home parks?

[Historic NY]

25. Real shame too many people in a tin can...it was luck he was able to get so many out..

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2014/01/20/fire-chief-he-saved-those-other-six-people-/4668401/

You have less than 3 minutes from ignition to evacuate a trailer. Apparently this was a shamble and too many extended family members in it. Number one fire cause electrical problems. Number one cause this time of year people with space heaters. Its been extremely cold up there. Cause listed here electrical.

"Some said they had been told by Beach family members and officials of Morgan Management, which owns the park, that the trailer had been deemed unlivable on at least one occasion (Beach had to replace the roof and the windows of the trailer within the past year) and that Louis Beach had been told there were too many people living on the property."

[Worried senior]

32. We live in a trailer also

We are rural and have a little over an acre of land but I do worry about our survivability in case of a fire. We have smoke detectors but it doesn't take long for these tin cans to be destroyed.

He was one brave boy and should be remembered for his heroism.

[Historic NY]

34. +1

[alphafemale]

46. A hand axe in each room.

Though you could probably easily kick through the wall of a trailer.

People don't think of that though.

[Union Scribe]

39. What an amazing young man.

I am in awe at the selflessness and heroism he displayed.

[heaven05]

43. IF there's a heaven

he's there. My condolences to the family.

[illachick]

44. Its people like this child that make me hope there is a Heaven

Where everything is fluffy clouds, sunshine and rainbows, the little guy deserves it. I hope him, his uncle and grandpa RIP.

[roguevalley]

47. what a wonderful baby. I could cry for our species. Sad, sad, sad.

[Aerows]

50. Lost it on doing the best things for our ...

When you aren't doing the best thing.

[LittleBlue]

53. Damn, that's a heroic act

You'll be remembered, Tyler

RIP

[New Orleans Strong]

54. To have a family like that,,,

that raises such an amazing kid, who then loses his life being an amazing kid - What does one do...

[defacto7]

59. Jees.. It doesn't have to be just one issue.

Yes there is a poverty factor.

Yes, there was a heroic child who thought about others before himself and lost his life in the act.

It's not one OR the other.

RIP child of compassion.
There aren't many born with the heart of compassion these days.