HOUSTON — An 11-year-old boy's quick thinking kept him safe during a Clear Lake apartment fire that the Houston Fire Department said left two firefighters injured Friday morning.
This happened around 6:30 a.m. at an apartment complex at the intersection of Pineloch Drive and Galveston Road.
"I woke up and I smelled something, it smelled like a candle, so I opened the door and saw a massive fire," said 11-year-old Khyair McWhertner. "Then I broke through the window and someone helped me come get out of it."
McWhertner managed to get out of the fire mostly unscathed with just some cuts and scrapes from his escape.
"I just thought there was nowhere else to go, I'll just break through the window," he said.
The American Red Cross was at the scene to help the victims of the fire. Several people were displaced.
"It's difficult," said Kevin Baker, whose upstairs apartment was one of four units damaged in the fire. "You would never think it would be you, but then, you realize it's life.
HFD said the fire may have started downstairs and traveled up to the second-floor unit.
The boy and the two firefighters were taken to an area hospital for treatment and are all expected to be OK.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
"It is under investigation by the arson division. They do have one person they are talking to right now," HFD said.
On the day after Thanksgiving, McWhertner said he was thankful for the first responders who helped him and others in the complex.
"They did a good job," he said.
Watch McWhertner describe how he punched through the window to escape: