Six rescued from fatal house fire

COVERT TWP., Mich. (Newschannel 3) - One brave little girl is responsible for saving six family members from their burning home.

The fire happened around 10 a.m Thursday morning on 78th Street in Covert Township.

The little girl, 9-year-old Arianna Bryant, spotted the fire spreading from the living room, and alerted her grandmother.

"My grandma told me to call 9-1-1, I called, then I opened the window and busted the window and jumped out," she told Newschannel 3.

Family members and neighbors say they did everything they could to get everyone out of the burning home.

Mark Dawson was one of the people who responded to the fire, and he was able to rescue his 10-month-old daughter.

"I managed to get the baby," he said. "I was crawling on the floor after four or five attempts."

Donald Burse, a neighbor, helped too.

"(I) ran back to the house to get the sledgehammer, to get the momma out," he said.

But in the end, all the help wasn't enough. While six of the seven people inside were able to escape, Arianna's grandmother, Patricia Bryant-Young couldn't make it out in time.

"Her last words were, 'Get the babies out, get the babies out!' " said Gegenna Clark, a family member.

The children did get out, but the family says Patricia's 7-year-old grandaughter Destiny Brown has severe burns over a large part of her body. They also say 10-year-old grandson Jonathon Brown suffered smoke inhalation, but is now off a ventilator.

The family credits Arriana for taking quick action to save her family.

"If not for her, I think we'd have a lot more funerals right now," said Clark.

There's no official word on the cause of the fire at this time, but family members suspect a kerosene heater used to heat the living room may have sparked the fire.