Key West

‘I really should've done more': 15-year-old girl saves boy from fire in Key West

The fire on Friday left three people dead, including a child, and sent three other children in the hospital

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A 15-year-old girl is recalling the moment when she put her life on the line to save a boy after a fire broke out at a building in Key West.

The fire on Friday left three people dead, including a child, and sent three other children to the hospital.

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According to the Key West fire chief, units arrived in two minutes but the apartment was already engulfed in flames.

While concrete block construction is sturdy for a hurricane, during a fire, the chief said, the building was like an oven inside.

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Although the situation was a terrifying one, Ashlyne Dorvil helped pull a classmate from Key West High School to safety.

“So I came outside and I heard a big pop and there was a little boy laying down on the floor and we, my uncle and my brother, we all dragged that little boy out the house, he was burning up and shaken up on the floor, on the grass,” she said.

Dorvil said she could have done more.

“I’m thinking that like, just regret, I really should’ve done more, went inside that house, just say, 'Forget it,' and go inside,” she said.

After saving her classmate and getting out of the fire herself, reality set in for Dorvil.

“It’s called survivor’s guilt, you know after you just got done experiencing stuff like that,” she said.

Dorvil was praised for her heroic actions and Key West Fire Chief Department Alan Averette said even his seasoned firefighters are traumatized.

'It’s very tough, my guys are a bunch of strong men and women but it’s hitting ‘em hard,” he said.

A 14-year-old and two 5-year-olds survived the fire, the Key West police and fire department said. One of them is in critical condition. Fire officials said those kids are now orphans.

When asked what happened in school, Dorvil said "All the kids were crying, they were sad. They’re just heartbroken.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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