SPOKANE, Wash. – On Oct. 17, the Barlow family lost everything – except their clothes, and their lives.
“I woke up and I was hearing this alarm… and I knew it was actually real because we literally just changed the battery,” seven-year-old Sydney Barlow recalled. “I woke up my mom and she was like ‘let me go check downstairs,’ and she opened the door and all of the alarms started going off.”
According to a press release from the Spokane Fire Department, this all occurred in the hours before 3:55 a.m.
The warning from Barlow helped save her mother, her younger sister and her dog from a fire that tore through their house.
“People often call firefighters heroes,” Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said. “The reality is, that kiddo is the hero.”
Schaeffer gave Barlow a medal on Saturday night, as a part of an effort organized by Christian Youth Theater (CYT) Spokane to surprise and honor Barlow at the Steam Plant Restaurant in downtown Spokane.
“(A CYT parent) came to me and said ‘I need to tell you something,’” CYT Spokane Artistic Director Kristine Lyons said. “She shared about this family losing their home and that they were four and six and it’s right before Christmas and I just said ‘stop.’”
CYT Spokane was already scheduled to perform Christmas Carols at Steam Plant Saturday night, so they invited the Barlow family, surprising their two young girls.
“The owner of this restaurant actually sponsored their dinner,” Lyons said. “We had the opportunity to meet the girls and to let them know that we’re here to sing for them.”
“(It was) really awesome because I was not expecting to have carolers literally sing to us and have all these people surrounding us,” Barlow said. “I feel really loved and cared for.”
The Barlow family is still currently displaced, and while they’re not asking for direct donations, Spokane Fire Station No. 4 will be accepting Christmas gifts to the family during normal business hours, just make sure to write the family’s name on the gift.
