Son likely saves father’s life in devastating house fire

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A son’s quick thinking likely saved his dad’s life.

Santiago Lecorchick, who goes by Santi, was up late Sunday night doing homework when he started to smell smoke.

“I was like ‘what is that?’” Santi recalled. “And I heard a loud bang. I looked over and there was a huge cloud of black smoke billowing in from the door.”

Santi says the ceiling in the basement started turning black.

“I jumped out of my chair and ran upstairs,” Santi said.

Upstairs is where Santi’s dad, Michael Lecorchick, was sound asleep.

“My son came upstairs screaming ‘dad -fire, fire, fire, fire, let’s get out,’” Michael Lecorchick tells Channel 11. “I would have slept through it. He got me out.”

“I couldn’t live without him,” Santi said. “My soul, my rock.”

The two ran outside, where Santi tried to use a garden hose to no avail. When that didn’t work, the two held each other in the front yard.

Their home is gutted. You can actually see right through where the windows once were. There is a pile of blackened bricks in the front yard and the roof is gone. The gravity of it all, hitting Santi’s dad.

“If it wasn’t for him, I might not be here today,” Michael said.

Henry’s Meat Market, where Santi works, started a GoFundMe. One of the owners, Grant Craig, says Santiago has a work ethic that’s hard to find.

“He’s such a good kid with work,” Craig said. “The fire started at 12:30-1 o’clock. His house was gone at 1:15, and at 1:25, he texted me, ‘hey boss, I’m not going to be able to come in tomorrow.’”

That GoFundMe surpassed its goal within hours, and by Tuesday, it had raised $20,000.

“It was really neat to see the community coming together to help this kid out and his family,” Craig added.

“I’m not terrified that we’re not going to have clothes or financial support,” Santi added. “I’m not worried, it’s amazing.”

Santiago and his dad say they’d really like to see the community also donating to the local volunteer fire departments, who raced out to their home in the middle of the night and ran toward the flames.

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