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SILVER LAKE -ÊShannon Hovenden doesn't think of herself as a hero.
But her parents and her brothers think otherwise.
On Dec. 11 when 12-year-old Shannon awoke to the buzzing of the smoke detector in her bedroom, she did not panic. Instead, she stayed calm despite the flames creeping up the wall of her bedroom, and knocked on the doors to her brothers' rooms to wake them.
"Her quick thinking is just amazing," said Shannon's stepfather Chris McGowan. "If it wasn't for her waking up ..."
"I try not to think about it. It was really, really close," said Shannon's mother Stacey McGowan.
But when asked about the night, Shannon says, "It's no big deal," and she "didn't really think about it" when she ran past the fiery wall to awaken her brothers, Shane, 14, and Shawn, 9.
Shannon said before she woke up, she was having a vivid dream.
"I was dreaming the school was on fire and the fire alarms were going off," Shannon said.
When she realized that the smoke alarm going off was actually in her bedroom, Shannon got up and moved out of the room quickly.
When asked if she was scared, Shannon calmly said, "No."
Once all three children were awake, they ran down the stairs of the home, yelling to wake their parents.
"We yelled for Chris and mom, 'get up, the house is on fire,'" Shannon said.
Once downstairs, Shannon, Shawn and Stacey left the house with dog Curly and cat Azrith in tow.
Meanwhile, Shane picked up a fire extinguisher and took it to Chris, who had gone to the stairway to see what was going on.
Chris took the fire extinguisher up the stairs and tried to douse the fire, slowing its progress until firefighters arrived at the home.
Silver Lake's volunteer fire department arrived at the house about 10 minutes after receiving the 911 call from the residents.
Firemen later told the family that Shane's and Chris's quick thinking with the fire extinguisher probably saved the home.
The house sustained fire damage to the upstairs bedrooms and smoke damage throughout the house. Had Chris and Shane not used the fire extinguisher, the house would have sustained more severe damage.
Silver Lake firefighters were able to get a pet snake and hamster out of the upstairs, saving them from the fire and smoke.
The only injury related to the fire occurred when the family cat scratched Stacey as she was carrying him out of the burning home.
"God was watching over them," said Sandy Reed, Stacey's mother.
"Make sure your kids know what to do in case of a fire," Chris said. "Teach them how to be prepared. Go over what to do in case of a fire. Have fire extinguishes and smoke detectors in the house."
The family currently is living with Reed until its house is repaired. They say friends and neighbors have been extremely helpful during their time of need.
Chris is employed at Paragon Medical and Stacey is employed at the Warsaw Lake Street Subway. They said both companies have been generous, and co-workers have helped the family with donations and gifts of clothing.
"We want to thank Paragon Medical, Subway, the (Silver Lake) fire department, First Responders, and the fire restoration crew from South Bend, and our friends, family and neighbors for all their help," Stacey said. "Everyone has been kind and generous."
