HIGH RIDGE, Mo. – The cause of a fire on Winthrop Drive in High Ridge earlier this week remains undetermined but neighbors and the fire chief say there’s no doubt a 15-year-old babysitter deserves recognition for her actions.

Chief John Barton of the High Ridge Fire District said the fire started somewhere between two homes on the street. Flames quickly spread to the house where the babysitter was watching a one-year-old girl, Alyiah, and a three-year-old boy, Brysen.

A home security camera captured images of the babysitter, Savannah Strother, carrying Alyiah in her arms and pulling Brysen by the hand. She opened the front door where flames were visible and managed to lead the children to safety.

“She’s a hero,” Taylor Dixon, Alyiah and Brysen’s mother, said. “She didn’t pause; she didn’t falter in action to get everybody out as safely as possible.”

“I was just thinking to get them out and get out,” Savannah said. “I just feel like I did what anybody else would do.”

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Dixon said of Savannah’s humility, “It just shows how much of a good person she is.”

Savannah’s mother, Brittany Strother, was still wiping away tears Friday as she thought about her daughter’s action and what might have happened had she panicked.

“I’m very grateful and very proud and super emotional, obviously, still about the whole thing,” Strother said.

The fire chief said Savannah did the right thing about getting outside as quickly as possible and not trying to grab other possessions.

“For a fifteen-year-old to maintain composure and take charge of the situation and get the kids out of harm’s way is really something to be commended,” Barton said.

A neighbor living in the house next door suffered burns and was taken to an area hospital. First responders reported the individual was conscious and breathing when they were transported.

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