Tyler J. Doohan, a boy who was just 8 years old, died Monday, January 20, from trying to save his relatives who were in a mobile-home fire. The tragedy occurred in the town of Penfield. It was approximately 4:45 a.m. when firefighters and deputies responded to an emergency call about the mobile-home fire as flames began to spread throughout the whole home. 

The child managed to wake six people up in the small trailer, including two children, ages 4 and 6. As soon as he got them out, Tyler realized that his grandfather, who was disabled and wouldn’t have been able to get out on his own, was still in there. Tyler’s aunt tried to hold him back, but Tyler escaped from her grip and rushed into the home to go rescue him. The results came out horrible. Tyler and his grandfather were found lying dead on his grandfather’s bed as smoke and fire surrounded them. Tyler was trying to pick his grandfather up and carry him out, but it was too late. The smoke had filled their lungs and the flames reached into the back of the trailer. Their bodies were badly burned.

“It makes me really proud, it really does, but I just want him back,” Crystal Vrooman, Tyler’s mother, told CNN affiliate WHAM. She was happy that he went with the people that he loved, and not just by himself. There were no working smoke alarms in the home. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but it is believed to be accidental. There was one space heater inside of the trailer that might of started the fire, but officials still cannot confirm. The Penfield Fire Company is intending to create a public service initiative to spread awareness and get smoke alarms out to the public.

Meanwhile, Tyler’s fourth grade superintendent of the East Rochester School District, Richard Stutzman Jr., announced a brief statement:

“In bravery and selflessly giving his own life, he was able to save the lives of 6 others…and he truly is a hero.”