10-year-old saves family from fire, neighbors unite to help for the holidays

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (WSYR) — A family from the Jewell Manor neighborhood in the town of Salina made it out of their home safely after a fire started on the top floor Monday night. The Briguglias credit their oldest son, 10-year-old Luca, for helping get his brother and sister to safety.

Luca says his mother Tracy was wrapping Christmas presents Monday night when she had to go grab something from the car. When she turned, she noticed flames coming from the roof. She screamed for Luca, and he didn’t waste a second. The 10-year-old called 911.

“I was scared on the inside, but not on the outside. I just did what I had to do,” he said. “I never heard her like that before! And I went out there and I saw the fire out the window. I called 911 and went to go get my brother and sister because they were in bed.”

Luca managed to get his younger brother, sister, and the family dog out of the house, all while on the phone with 911, telling them where he lived and what was happening. Thankfully, everyone got out safely. Luca said his mother has gone over this scenario over and over with him and his siblings, in case it ever happened.

Tracy Briguglia is a nurse at Upstate who has been treating COVID-19 patients for months. Her husband, Roberto, works for the United States Postal Service and has been dealing with an unprecedented workload for weeks.

Their neighbors know how hard they work and how difficult a situation they are now in. In less than 24 hours, they were able to come up with a plan.

Mandye Blair, a neighbor to the family, has started taking donations for them. So far, thousands of dollars have been donated to help out. Tuesday afternoon, kids from the neighborhood spent their afternoon handing out flyers with information on how to help. Tracy’s coworkers at Upstate have also been working together to try and help the family.