Boy, 6, alerts family to Orange County house fire

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 6-year-old boy may have saved his family by waking them up after smelling smoke in their Orange County home Tuesday.

Officials said the fire started early Tuesday morning inside a car, and then spread to the home on Highland Avenue in Apopka.

Officials said Tyler Taylor saved five people after he warned his great-grandmother, who was sleeping.

The boy's great-grandmother said if it was not for him, no one in the home would have made it out.

The left side of the house is charred.

The owner of the home told WFTV she was tossing and turning in bed when her great-grandson came in and told her he saw smoke in the house. That's when she got out of bed and walked to the other side of the house and saw flames.

Taylor spoke with WFTV reporter Racquel Asa about the fire.

"I smelled the smoke and it woke me up. When I went to the kitchen, I saw smoke everywhere, and then I told my grandma," Taylor said.

The owner told Asa she believes someone was trying to steal a truck and it crashed into the home, causing a fire.

However, investigators have not confirmed that information.

The steering wheel, seats and dashboard of the truck are completely melted.

The owner said she is troubled by the reason why she thinks someone crashed the truck into the home.

A Channel 9 reporter asked the fire marshal if that would be part of the investigation.

"Of course, anything like that is something that is going to be looked at," said John Mulhall with Orange County Fire Rescue.

WFTV