Little hero saves her Swampscott family

SWAMPSCOTT – Alerted by her 6-year-old daughter’s footsteps, a Humphrey Street woman snapped awake Tuesday morning and rushed with her family out of their home as fire swept through the kitchen on its way to destroying the house.”My daughter saved us all,” said Lori Pierro as she accepted hugs from town firefighters who work with her husband, Anthony.”It was close, and I’m a firefighter, and that was too close for comfort,” Anthony Pierro said.Swampscott Fire Chief Kevin Breen said Victoria Pierro, her parents, and brothers, Christian, 12, and Nicholas, 15, escaped their home with only seconds to spare before the two-alarm, early-morning fire gutted 672 Humphrey St.”Anthony said he looked back and saw fire rolling across the kitchen ceiling. They clearly only had seconds to spare or they would have been cut off and forced to retreat to the second floor to await rescue,” Breen said.Breen said the fire “is not suspicious” and fire investigators spent Tuesday combing through what remained of the Pierros’ garage searching out the fire’s origin. The garage was attached to the family home and Lori Pierro, awakened by Victoria’s footsteps, said she saw “a wall of red orange fire” in her kitchen.”I ran upstairs, got my husband and we all got out,” she said.The Pierros plan to stay at Anthony Pierro’s parents’ home in Marblehead. Anthony Pierro is a 12-year town firefighter and his father, Robert, was a department member for more than three decades. Robert’s wife, Eileen, on Tuesday called her granddaughter “a little super hero.””She’s only six but she smelled smoke and ran right up to mommy. You can replace a house, you can replace a car, but you cannot replace a body,” she said.Victoria Pierro attends the Hadley School, Christian Pierro is a Swampscott Middle School student and Nicholas goes to Swampscott High School.The fire destroyed the family’s new car and Christmas gifts Lori Pierro had purchased. Bill Benevento lives across from the Pierros’ driveway and said he awoke at 4:30 a.m. to see flames on the roof of 672 Humphrey St. He heard shouting and saw people converge on the street as fire crews arrived.Breen said initial reports indicate working smoke detectors woke up Victoria Pierro. He said Anthony Pierro led his family out of his home through a rear door even as fire engulfed the front of the home.A spontaneous show of support for the Pierro family began even as smoke still seeped from the family’s ruined home. Neighbor Patricia Donlon handed out cookies and poured coffee for firefighters from Lynn, Peabody, Marblehead and Salem who helped Swampscott firefighters put out the fire.”They had been outside a few hours so I’m sure they could use it,” Donlon said.A fund has been established at the Lynn Firemen’s Federal Credit Union and Lynn Firefighters Local 739 President Matt Reddy had already delivered a $2,500 check to the family by Tuesday evening.Breen said Swampscott Firefighter Steven Greenbaum was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and returned to work.The fire was the second in town in two days: A mid-morning Monday fire left a Burpee Road couple homeless.Lori and Anthony Pierro said they were grateful Tuesday evening, even as they watched crews dismantle the family home. Anthony said the home originally belonged to his grandfather and had been moved from the area of the Fish House in 1927. In 1929, the house caught fire, but the flames were extinguished before causing major damage, Anthony Pierro said. This time was different.”There was too much volume, too much fire …it was just a matter of getting everyone out,” Anthony Pierro said. (Victoria’s) a hero, absolutely, she saved our lives.”Both Pierros also said it was “scary” being the victims, rather than the rescuers, in a fire.”I’m just grateful he wasn’t working,” Lori Pierro said. “If he had seen the fire alarm and known it was his house, he would have freaked out.”Meanwhile, the Pierros said Victoria and her brothers were fine and staying with friends fo