What to Know
- A 13-year-old Delaware boy who defied his mom by staying up late to watch Netflix is credited with saving his family from a fire.
- The boy's late-night viewing meant he was awake when the fire broke out at the family home, allowing him to wake his mom.
Damir Carter knew he shouldn't be up binge-watching "The Flash" on Netflix.
His mother told the 13-year-old to go to bed hours earlier. But now Damir's defiance is being credited with saving his family from a fire that destroyed their Delaware home.
The teen had been sent to bed by his mom around 9:30 p.m. but instead stayed up binging "The Flash" on his phone, which allowed him to wake up the family when a fire broke out around 1 a.m.
"If he was not awake I don't know the outcome because as soon as I had found out it was about four minutes and my kitchen was in flames," mom Angela Borden said.
Carter said he was watching Netflix when he began to hear things breaking. At first, he thought it was his cat playing around in the bathroom.
"I went to get up to check on her and then I saw smoke in my hallway and then I saw the fire," Carter said.
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He immediately began yelling for his parents, though unbeknownst to him his dad was out working an overnight shift.
Carter's screams woke his mother and the two scrambled to open doors and let the pets out. Unfortunately, at least eight didn't make it before the flames consumed the trailer, including four dogs, a cat and three bearded dragons.
This is not the first time the family has lost a home to a fire. Around four years ago, another blaze destroyed their old home, Borden said.
Authorities told the family the cause of the most recent fire was a power strip that was pulling too much electricity and overheated.
Though they lost their possessions and some pets, Borden said she was just happy she and her son were safe.
Carter, meanwhile, is getting a pass on this instance of defying mom's orders.
"He didn't get grounded this time," Borden said.
