Ramir Parker is only in seventh grade but firefighters are commending him for thinking and acting like a professional firefighter when his family was at risk. On June 3, 2025, just before 9 a.m., Ramir smelled smoke in his home in Petersburg, Virginia. Ramir was upstairs, speaking to his grandmother, when he heard “a strange crackling and rattling sound, growing louder by the second.”
Later, Ramir’s mother Andrea Parker recounted the conversation for local media. “My mother-in-law told me that my son [said] he smelled fire and they went downstairs [thinking] it was his little brothers playing, but it wasn’t,” she explained.
Ramir checked the hallway and saw smoke.
When he left the room to check, he saw “thick, black smoke” coming from the basement. He screamed “fire” to warn his grandmother of the danger, WTVR reported. He then ran and grabbed his 1-year-old and 2-year-old brothers. He ushered his grandmother and brothers out of the home before the fire consumed the home and the fire department arrived.
Power lines had also caught fire.
By the time firefighters approached the Parker home, they could see evidence of the fire from miles away. “I was about 3 miles away and off in the distance I could see a large column of black smoke that was coming from the direction of where the house fire was dispatched,” Battalion Chief Braden Peter of the Petersburg Fire Department said. The firefighters laid 700 feet of hose in front of the home. Live power lines in the front yard and across the street also caught fire.
An electrical issue caused the fire.
It took firefighters 20 minutes to extinguish the flames, which had spread to multiple floors in the home. The fire was caused by an electrical issue in the basement and ruled an accident, the Mirror reported. The firefighters are certain that Ramir saved lives that day. They praised him for his quick thinking and selfless bravery.
Firefighters said he showed the soul of a warrior.
“In a moment where seconds mattered, he stepped up just like a firefighter would,” the firefighters continued. “Just like a protector does. Ramir, we see you. We salute you. You showed the heart of a fireman today and the soul of a warrior.”
