A 5-year-old boy is credited with saving the lives of more than a dozen people after warning them to get out of a burning home when the fire alarms apparently malfunctioned.

The early morning fire broke out at about 4 a.m. in the 5000 block of south Marshfield in the Back of the Yards neighborhood where Jayden Espinosa had been staying at his aunt's home with his two sisters, according to fire officials and the boy's mother.

Everyone inside the home was sleeping, except Jayden, said his mother, Tracey Espinosa.

"I smelled the smoke and I got up and went outside," Jayden said. He ran to tell his aunt and everyone inside the home to get out.

"Because I'm smart and brilliant," Jayden said when asked how he knew what to do.

His brilliance did not stop there. The home was a duplex, and the neighbors were asleep, as well. Jayden ran downstairs to tell them about the fire, saving the lives of 13 people who escaped the flames.


The American Red Cross has aided Jayden's aunt and cousins.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The family has set up a GoFundMe.

