ELLICOTT, COLO. -- If you ask him, he's just an ordinary teenager. But to the Red Cross and his neighbors, he is a hero.
Alex Hill is a sophomore at Ellicott High School. While feeding his barn animals early in the morning in January, he heard a faint beeping sound coming from his neighbor's house. It sounded like a fire alarm, so he went inside to tell his mother about it.
His mother, Cheryl, went outside, but could not hear the beeping. Alex insisted, so both of them went down the neighbor's driveway to see if they could get a better listen. Sure enough, the mother-son duo heard the beeping prompting them to loudly knock on their neighbor's door.
Cheryl called the fire department after seeing smoke everywhere in the house. Alex and Cheryl helped the mother and her three children get out of the house quickly and get out of danger. The sound was a carbon monoxide alarm.
Had it not been for Alex's quick action and persistence, the situation could have ended much differently for the family. That's why the Red Cross has named Alex Hill as an American Red Cross Hometown Youth Hero. He will be officially awarded on March 10.
Danielle Van Esselstine is the principal at Ellicott High School. She proudly nominated him for the award.
"He doesn't consider himself a hers," Van Esselstine said. "It's what he did and what he would continue to do."
Alex however, is humble.
"I will act upon something I think is wrong," Alex said. "That's why I don't think it's that big of a deal, really."
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM