SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)–Sioux Falls Fire Rescue helped celebrate a local 17-year-old who helped save the lives of her entire family. During Wednesday’s award presentation, she and her family had a chance to thank the fire crew who helped save them last December.
“I woke up with the sound of like wind at my door and I thought it was a storm. So I got up and I looked at my door and I saw the fire,” 17-year-old Kaitlyn Sundby said.
Despite her fear, Kaitlyn knew just what to do, keeping away from the door and flames, grabbing her phone and heading out the window.
“She really flung her screen. The next day I found it clear in her closet,” grandma Marlys Sundby said.
Marlys Sundby had just left for her overnight shift about an hour before the fire started. She said she had just talked to her daughter and grandchildren a few months earlier when everyone was together.
“I said, we should talk about if we ever had a fire. And my grandkids are like, grandma, you always think somethings going to happen. Nothing bad is going to happen,” Sundby said.
But it’s a conversation that helped Kaitlyn prepare for the unthinkable.
“I was very scared because I wouldn’t imagine this to happen to anyone,” Kaitlyn said. “I didn’t know if I would make it out in time, but thankfully I did.”
Kaitlyn called 911 and went to her neighbor’s house to get help.
“They helped my sister get out of the basement,” Kaitlyn said. “Then I helped my mom get out the window.”
Her greatest fear was for her baby brother who was still trapped inside, just across the hall from the bathroom where the fire started. When emergency crews arrived, Kaitlyn again played a key role in helping firefighters get to him in time.
“We pulled up and we knew right away that there was going to be a victim,” SFFR firefighter Natalie Minihan said.
“She did everything right, told us right where to go, what to do,” SFFR Captain Bill Bosler said. “I just kind of jumped in the window onto the bed and grabbed him and handed him out the window.”
Kaitlyn’s 2-year-old brother Carter spent about a month in the St. Paul Burn Unit for treatments from injuries he sustained during the fire.
“That was really hard just because he’s so young and he probably got hurt the most out of everyone,” Kaitlyn said.
Now he is well on the road to recovery thanks to the quick actions of his big sister.
“Kaitlyn, we’d like to honor you with this Citizen Hero certificate and a challenge coin. Thank you for your quick actions,” SFFR Chief Matt McAreavey said during Wednesday’s presentation.
It’s why Kaitlyn is now officially a Sioux Falls hero.
“She did exactly what we talked about. She was perfect and saved everyone,” Marlys Sundby said.
Kaitlyn and her family and Sioux Falls fire rescue hope others can learn a lot from their experience. The smoke detectors in their home were old and expired and never went off. Fire rescue says you can call 211 and fire prevention will come and install new smoke detectors for you.
They also say it’s important to talk to your kids about your family’s fire escape plan and practice calling 9-1-1 so they’re prepared to do just what Kaitlyn did, sharing details of their address, how many family members are home and where their room and window is.
Also, a squealing, faulty bathroom fan caused this fire, something fire prevention says is a common cause of house fires. They say never to use a bathroom fan for extended periods of time and if your fan ever starts to make noise or malfunction, reach out to an electrician to replace it right away.