Toddler saves family from fire after parents lost sense of smell to Covid

Earlier this month, a two-year-old boy helped save his entire family from a fire that destroyed their entire house.

Nathan and Kayla Dahl’s Texas home went up in flames early one morning but the couple wasn’t able to smell the smoke that was billowing through their house because they were both still recovering from Covid, which caused the loss of smell. Additionally, the smoke alarms in the home failed to work properly.

“We had brand new, less than a year old, smoke alarms in our house,” Nathan Dahl tells WFAA. “None of them went off.”

Firefighters believe the fire began in the living room, where the Dahls’ two-year-old son Brandon was sleeping alongside his mom because the toddler was also recovering from being sick. Kayla tells WFAA she wanted to be able to check on him throughout the night.

Brandon was the one to wake up and smell the smoke coming from nearby flames.

“He tapped me on my feet in bed and was coughing and saying, ‘Mama, hot. Mama, hot,'” Dahl, of Alvord, Texas, told Good Morning America. “I turned around. I looked and all I saw was flames in the doorway.”

Without being able to smell the smoke that was filling their home, Kayla Dahl credits her youngest son for saving the entire family with his warning. Brandon has four siblings who were able to get out safely, too. Sadly, the fire destroyed the entire home and everything in it.

“Everything is gone. We lost my car. Everything inside the house,” said Kayla Dahl. “Brandon saved us. He was wrapped in God’s arms to help protect him and to make sure that our entire family was able to get out.”

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, children should always stay three feet away from anything that can get hot—including space heaters and stove tops. They also recommend keeping matches and lighters securely away from children, and to teach them that those things are “tools,” not toys.

The Dahl family’s tragic experience is a reminder that every family should have a fire escape plan. The U.S. Fire Administration says parents should make sure that their kids know two ways to get out of every room in the home. They also recommend putting a specific plan in place for children who cannot get outside by themselves.

Additionally, parents should make sure their kids know what to do when they hear a smoke alarm, including picking a meeting place outside of the home so kids know where to go.

Within minutes of the Dahl family getting out of their burning home, firefighters from nine different fire departments and one EMS department were on the scene. While the firefighters weren’t able to salvage much of the family’s home, they were able to keep it from spreading to other nearby homes and structures. 

“I’m really, really thankful for those other departments that came to not only our aid but our neighbors’ aids,” Nathan Dahl said.

Kayla Dahl tells WFAA that Brandon had trouble falling asleep for the first couple of nights after the fire because he was scared. She said he stayed up for almost 48 hours straight before eventually getting some rest, but gets up regularly to check on everyone in their nearby rental home.

Because the family lost their home and their vehicles, friends set up a GoFundMe page for the Dahls to help them with expenses like clothing, food, rent, and everything else they’ll need in the days to come.

“You don’t sit there and expect something like that,” Kaya Dahl said. “It has been 100% completely unexpected. We are very, very, very grateful for everybody and everything.”

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