‘A wall of smoke hit me’: Waverly mom and son recount escape from house fire

They say smoke detectors saved their lives

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Waverly mother and her son woke up early Monday morning to a living nightmare: their house was on fire.

Juanita Clifton and her son Alex were startled awake by the sound of smoke detectors.

“It’s 4 in the morning, and I heard a beep,” Alex said. “Sometimes, you just think it’s that faulty smoke alarm. And then I was like, ‘OK, this is constant.'”

At the same time in her room upstairs, Juanita was confused at first, but she left her room.

“As soon as I opened the door, a wall of smoke hit me,” she said.

Juanita was the first to make it outside with their dog.

She knew her son had been asleep in the basement, which only had a small window.

“I went over, and I banged on it to try to get him out, to try to get him woken up,” she said.

Alex made it upstairs through the thick smoke and made his way out by memory alone because he couldn’t see.

He tried shouting for his mom, but the heavy smoke swallowed his voice.

When he made it outside, he didn’t see Juanita right away.

“In the back of my mind, I don’t know where my mom is, so I went back in just a little bit and just kept screaming, trying to hear something,” Alex said.

Soon after, the pair were reunited and firefighters arrived at the house, which was engulfed in flames.

Waverly Volunteer Fire & Rescue recognized Juanita from a separate fire the week prior.

She helped support the team by bringing food, drinks and other supplies while they battled a blaze in the bitter cold.

Fire Chief Jared Rains said when you’re fighting a fire for someone you know, it can be more emotional.

“No fire is a good fire, but when you know the person has helped you, it definitely hits a little harder,” he said.

The house, valued at $350,000, is a total loss.

“All the memories are gone,” Juanita said.

But she agreed the most important thing is that she and her son are alive and safe.

She’s having signs made to put up in her neighborhood to remind everyone of the importance of working smoke detectors.

“My whole point is, check your smoke detectors,” Juanita said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”