Siblings like to fight with each other. But when the moment really matters, siblings will do anything to help their brother or sister out. Sometimes that even means being heroic during a survival situation.
In Wisconsin, when the Omar family’s house caught fire, their oldest son Briar stepped up to make sure that his four younger sisters were okay.
The parents went to the grocery store. It took all of 10 minutes for the kids to smell smoke.
Leaving their 13-year-old son, Briar, in charge of his four younger sisters, parents Kelly and Jay Omar headed out to the store. With kids ranging from ages 6 months to 13 years, it was a full house.
Very quickly, the children realized something was wrong.
As soon as he smelled the smoke, Briar knew he had to make sure his sisters were okay.
He recalled:
“We looked behind us and the playpen was on fire.”
Briar immediately leaped into big brother mode, racing to protect his younger siblings. He describes his thinking to WCCO CBS Minnesota:
“My sisters. That was the first thing I thought of. I knew I had to get them out of the house”
All of the Omar children were on the first floor at the time that the fire started. They were able to get out of the house quickly and to safety.
The fire was quickly getting worse, but Briar thought he could do more to help.
After ensuring that all his sisters were out of the house and doing okay, Briar believed that he could save the house. He went back into the burning building and grabbed a fire extinguisher. Briar then told CBS Minnesota the harrowing details of being inside the burning house:
“And it went up in bigger flames and I just couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I almost collapsed and then that’s when I felt my dog rub against me and I grabbed her and she led me out the door.”
Amazingly, Briar rescued his sisters, and the family dog rescued him.
In addition to getting all his sisters out, Briar and the family’s dog, Mandy, also found their way to safety.
By the time that Briar and Mandy exited the house, Kelly and Jay were in the driveway. It was terrifying for the parents to realize what had happened while they were gone, and they were relieved to see everyone doing well.
The family says that they feel grateful to have the family all together and healthy in the aftermath of this incident. They also point out that the community has come together to help the family with their needs, providing clothing and diapers for the kids, and the bar across the street from their house offered to organize a benefit to help them financially.
Without Briar’s actions, things could have been a lot worse for the family.
Briar is rightfully being credited with saving his sisters’ lives and being called a hero. His mom Kelly sums up what Briar’s actions mean by saying:
“We’re just so thankful that every single one of them made it out. So if it wasn’t for my son I don’t know where I’d be.”
A friend of the family started a GoFundMe to help the family. Learn more about their story in the video below!
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Source: WCCO CBS Minnesota, GoFundMe
