5-year-old Va. girl's fire safety training helps her family escape house fire

WASHINGTON - There was a happy reunion and a word of thanks at Reagan National Airport on Monday.

Last month, a family in Alexandria, Virginia had to escape their home after a fire broke out. But it wasn't only the fire that was unexpected. It was the person who led the escape to safety from the blaze.

Gabby Mushahwar is like most 5-year-olds, except Gabby is sort of a hero.

“Fires are bad and they can burn you if you get really close to them,” she said

Firefighters at Reagan National Airport first met Gabby last fall when they hosted a fire safety drill during a Plane Pull event for kids.

"It's been a big hit with the kids,” said Capt. Michael Osborne of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Fire Department. “It's been awesome.”

The escape drill teaches kids how to roll out of bed, check that doors are not hot before opening and how to low crawl so they don't breathe smoke.

"It's for helping kids that don't know how to do it," said Gabby.

Gabby and 1,300 of other kids ran the course that day. But at the time, it didn't really make much of an impact to Gabby's mother.

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