Fayetteville's mayor and City Council Monday will honor a 7-year-old city resident for heroism.

Megan Anderson's heroic actions resulted in her family escaping safe from a fire in their home, and her quick thinking allowed her father to put out the fire, preventing further damage, according to city Fire Department reports.

Megan was awakened Tuesday, Feb. 22 by the sound of smoke detector sounding in side her home at 140 North Hampton Drive, according to reports. She awoke and found the house filled with thick black smoke. She made her way to the living room where her mother, Tonya Arrington, was sleeping on the sofa. The fireplace, less than ten feet from where Arrington was sleeping, had shot out a hot spark that ignited the living room carpet, reports said.

Unable to awaken her mother, Megan went to her parents' bedroom and woke her father, William “Ashley” Arrington.

Arrington told Megan to go out and wake her mother, and to get her mother and 3-year-old brother Ashley Jr. ut of the house. Megan again braved the smoke and heat, returning to the living room to find her mother still unresponsive on the sofa, reports said.

Megan then grabbed her mother's leg and flipped her off of the sofa, causing her to hit the floor and wake up. Mrs. Arrington then made her way to little Ashley's room, collected him, and fled the house, meeting up with Megan on the front yard.

Mr. Arrington was able to put out the fire with a portable fire extinguisher and joined the family outside. They returned to the house and found that the fire had caused $5,000 to $10,000 damage.

“Based on her actions, Megan saved the lives of her family and reduced the amount of potential damage to the house had the fire grown larger,” says a City Hall news release. “Smoke and super-heated gases from burning carpet are extremely lethal. More deaths occur from smoke and heated gases every year than from flame.

“Tonya observed Megan crouching over where clean, cook oxygen was available and followed her lead, allowing her to avoid becoming a fire casualty herself,” the release says.

Megan, who is in the second grade at Fayette Primary School, had recently participated in a fire safety education program. Sgt. Ashley Strickland of the Fayetteville Fire Department teaches the one-hour program to children.

Training in fire safety education is a year-round project for the department. Students are exposed to fire safety education monthly. Fire Chief Alan Jones has instituted the program “Learn not to Burn” based on curriculum issued by the National Fire Protection Association in 13 local schools, and said he hopes to expand the program soon.

Jones said that during 1999 fire safety education classes were delivered to 259 classes encompassing all day care facilities, pre-schools and elementary schools through third grade, with 6,211 children learning about fire safety.

For information on fire safety, home evacuation plans or safety education, phone Fire Marshal Cheryl Walls or Sgt. Ashley Strickland at 770-461-4548.

Jones also asks that anyone having a fire at home or office, regardless of size or nature, report it to fire officials by dialing 911.