Girl smells smoke, awakens family

The quick action of a seven-year-old Oregon girl saved her family from their burning home in the early hours of Jan. 13.

Molly Riffle, a first grader at Oregon Elementary School, said she was awakened by the strong smell of smoke.

"It was really stinky smoke," Molly said Friday afternoon. "When I got up I smelled smoke so I woke Mommy up. I thought a log fell out of the fireplace but Mommy said there was a fire so we had to run outside."

Jenny Riffle, Molly's mother, said her three children were asleep upstairs in the home at 2791  Brooks Isle Rd. south of Oregon, while she and her husband Mike were sleeping downstairs, when the fire was discovered around 4 a.m.

"We were all sleeping," Riffle said. "Molly woke up and came downstairs. She woke me up and said, 'Mommy, I think a log rolled out of the fireplace.'"

Riffle said the house was already filled with heavy smoke from the fire which was in the fireplace.

She and Mike awakened their eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son and the five of them fled from the structure.

"Molly is definitely a hero," Riffle said. "Without her I don't think we would have survived. She was awake, thank God."

Oregon Fire Chief Don Heller said the girl's quick thinking led to the family getting out the the house safely.

"She woke up to the smell of smoke, saw the smoke, and woke everybody up," he said.

Heller said firefighters arrived on the scene to find fire in and around the fireplace.

Heller said the fire was confined to the fireplace, but the house, which is owned by Hal Witthoeft, sustained heavy smoke damage.

Riffle said her family has lived in the rental house since November and has used the fireplace frequently ever since they moved in.

"We've had a fire in it almost every night," Riffle said. "Now I'm terrified."

She said the house is presently uninhabitable.

"I hope we can find another house in the Oregon School District," she said. "I don't want the kids to have to change schools."