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Teen Saves Family from House Fire After Covid-19 Left Them Unable to Smell Smoke

Burning House

A Waco, Texas family almost died over the weekend after they were unable to detect a house fire after losing their sense of smell to Covid-19.

Fortunately, one member of the family did not have the virus, and she was able to smell the smoke, according to a local news channel WESH2 report.

17-year-old Bianca Rivera was able to safely evacuate her family after she noticed the smell of smoke at 2:00 am.

“I don’t really count myself as a hero,” Rivera said. “I just did what anyone else would do for their own family. I just wanted to get everyone out safe and alive.”

“I started smelling burnt plastic. That’s when I got more alert and I ran outside of my room, I couldn’t even pass the hallway because it was filled with so much smoke,” she continued.

“Honestly it was just me protecting my family and getting them to (safety). It didn’t matter to me if I was going to get hurt or I was going to get burned as long as I got them out safe and sound.”

After safely evacuating her family, Rivera went back into the smoke-filled house to save the family pets.

The Waco Fire Department stressed the importance of having functioning smoke detectors in a tweet released after the house fire.

“This family is lucky to be alive,” the fire department said.

Loss of smell is one of the most common and defining symptoms of coronavirus. 86% of mild coronavirus cases experience this symptom. It can take months for a person’s sense of smell to come back.