Lane Wuestewald, 9, Heard a Neighbor’s Smoke Alarm in Yankton, South Dakota, Told His Mom, and Firefighters Say He Saved the Home and the Pets Inside

Lane Wuestewald, 9, was playing outside in Yankton, South Dakota, when he heard a smoke alarm going off inside a neighbor’s home, and what he did next helped save the home. He told his mother, who called it in, according to KYNT.

On Monday, Nov. 9, the City of Yankton and the Yankton Fire Department recognized him at the City Commission meeting. Fire Chief Tim Linke said Lane saved both the home and the pets inside.

What Lane Heard and Who He Told

The details of that day are short, and KYNT did not report the date of the fire. Lane was outside when the sound of a smoke alarm reached him from the neighbor’s house. An alarm only helps when someone nearby notices it, and Lane did.

He went to his mother instead of ignoring it, KYNT reported, and she reported the fire. The station did not name the neighbor or the mother, and it did not say how many pets were in the home or what kind.

That chain of events, from a child’s ears to a parent’s phone to a fire crew, is what the city and the fire department chose to recognize.

The Honor at the Yankton City Commission

Mayor Mike Villanueva, who is also a volunteer firefighter, praised Lane’s actions at the meeting, according to KYNT. Chief Linke then “deputized” Lane and gave him a Yankton Fire Department challenge coin.

The department that recognized him is mostly volunteer. The City of Yankton’s fire department page says more than 40 volunteers respond from three stations, supported by full-time staff led by a full-time fire chief and a deputy chief who is also the fire marshal. Volunteers also help with public safety education at schools and in the community, and a fire safety trailer travels the region to teach children how to escape a home fire.

It is also an old department. Former Deputy Fire Chief Larry Nickles said in 2024 that it is the oldest fire department in South Dakota, as the department marked its 150th anniversary with a parade and a celebration at Memorial Park.

Why a Working Alarm Next Door Matters

Lane’s story rests on a smoke alarm that worked. The National Fire Protection Association says smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half. The American Red Cross puts it nearly the same way, saying working alarms can cut the risk of dying in a fire nearly in half.

The Red Cross guidance in its smoke alarm questions and answers is specific:

• Put alarms on each level of the home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.
• Mount them on the ceiling or high on a wall, at least 10 feet from the stove.
• Test each alarm monthly with its test button.
• Replace batteries at least once a year, or sooner if the alarm chirps.
• Replace the entire alarm every 10 years.

For homes that already have alarms, the Red Cross says the best protection in an existing house is interconnected alarms in each bedroom and throughout the home, so that one alarm sounding sets off the rest. It also advises vacuuming cobwebs and dust from alarms monthly to prevent nuisance alarms, and keeping alarms away from the kitchen to reduce false ones.

The Red Cross also says never to disable an alarm, even when it goes off while cooking or showering. Its advice is to use the hush button instead, because a disabled alarm cannot warn anyone when a real fire starts.

What Lane’s Story Teaches Kids About Alarms

For families, the Yankton story adds a lesson the checklists do not cover: what a child should do when an alarm sounds somewhere else. Lane’s answer was to tell a parent right away.

The same fire department already teaches children about fire escape. Its safety trailer, according to the city’s page, travels the region to show kids how to get out of a home fire. A child who knows to tell an adult about an alarm next door, and what to do when one sounds at home, has two of the basics.

Lane is not the only young person to act fast in an emergency lately. Two teen brothers in Carmel pulled a grandmother and two small children from a pond, a story Parent Diaries covered this week.

Fire Station #2, at 201 West 23rd, also houses the department’s public fire museum, according to the city’s page, and the fire marshal reviews plans for new construction and conducts fire inspections. Those inspection and education programs sit alongside the volunteers who answer calls, the group Lane was honored by.

The recognition at the Yankton City Commission was the formal expression of thanks. Lane left the meeting with a deputy title and a challenge coin, and, in Linke’s words, a home and the pets inside it were saved.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Curpharar – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons