Boy, 4, saves sleeping mum from house fire

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By LEMACH LAVARI
A MOTHER says she owes her life to her “brave” four-year-old son who woke her up just as a fire began to engulf the family home.
Her hair partly singed, mum Koan Frank said at Hanuabada village in the National Capital District yesterday: “I could have died if it wasn’t for my son. I am thankful for his courage. He could have panicked and ran out without waking me. But he didn’t.”
The incident happened at around 3pm on Wednesday last week.
Frank said she took a nap after picking up her son Andrew from school. She was awaken by Andrew’s screams telling her to get out of the house because of the fire.
By then the fire had already razed two rooms and was heading towards where she was sleeping. She grabbed her son and ran for safety.
The home was about 50 meters behind the Puma Energy depot at Badihagwa in Port Moresby.
Koani’s brother Tasi Frank said firefighters were called but arrived too late to save anything.
Employees of Puma Energy at the depot helped put out the fire by using a hose pipe from the facility.
Fire station commander Leo Ovia said they had submitted a report to headquarters and a formal investigation was pending. Koani said the family lost everything in the fire and have started a fundraising drive to build a new home.
She sells food near the home to support her family, said the home was built one year ago.