By Cristina Maisel

On a quiet Saturday afternoon in Steelton, Honezty Snyder was doing what she usually does on weekends — listening to music, cleaning her room and watching over her younger siblings. The oldest of four and just three days away from her 14th birthday, she enjoys the comfort of familiar routines, her phone and the privacy of her own space. With a family celebration at a hotel planned for later in the day, it felt ordinary. Her mom, Te‑Quana Scrivens, had stepped out with her own mother to pick up cupcakes and decorations for the joint birthday celebration for Honezty and her aunt.

That January afternoon shifted in an instant. Honezty first knew something was wrong when her sister began screaming and the smoke alarm blared.

“I ran downstairs to see what she was yelling about and why the alarms were beeping,” Honezty said.

When she saw the smoke, she immediately ran upstairs to get the children — sisters A’Laura, 7, and Nova’Lee, 5; a toddler cousin who had been napping; and her seven‑month‑old brother, Rhyder, who was asleep in their mother’s room. Honezty gathered the children, carried the baby and ushered everyone out of the house.

At that same moment, a volunteer firefighter happened to be driving by. He noticed black smoke coming from the chimney — a sign of active flames — and was rushing toward the house just as Honezty emerged with the children. She called her mom several times, unusual enough that Te‑Quana answered while in the grocery store checkout line.

“She never does that,” Te‑Quana said. “I answered and asked, ‘Honezty, what’s going on?’ And she said, ‘Mom, there’s a fire, there’s a fire.’”

Honezty handed the phone to the firefighter, who reassured her mother: “Ma’am, it’s okay. She got all the kids outside. They’re fine.” Honezty then told her she needed to hang up so she could call 911.

Fire officials later told Te‑Quana that her daughter had only minutes to spare. “They told me she had three more minutes before the fire would have trapped them upstairs,” she said. The cause was determined to be electrical, sparked by wiring behind the stove, and may have been burning for a while before anyone noticed.

In the moment, Honezty’s focus and calm stunned her mother. Honezty lives with autism, and too much noise, change or crowds can be overwhelming for her.

“She normally doesn’t talk to anybody,” Te‑Quana said. “She stays in her room all day long. Just even her getting on the phone with 911 and being able to direct them to where they needed to go is a big deal for her.”

Later, Te‑Quana asked whether she had been scared. Honezty told her, “Mom, I was scared, but I knew I had to get them out of the house.”

Honezty didn’t forget about the family dog, Stella, either. “Even I forgot about Stella,” her mom said. “She’s part of our family, too, and in that moment, I forgot about Stella. But not Honezty. She told the firefighters to get her out.”

The family had only recently moved into the home in October. Steelton had always been a comforting place for Honezty — a smaller community where people knew her and where she felt safe. After escaping, though, they had nothing with them other than the coats and blankets Honezty had grabbed.

“When she went out, we didn’t have anything,” Te‑Quana said. “No formula. The kids didn’t have their shoes. She grabbed their coats and blankets, but everything else, we didn’t have it.”

American Red Cross volunteers responded to Steelton that night to provide Te‑Quana and her family with emergency financial assistance, comfort items, relief supplies and emotional support.

“If it was not for the Red Cross helping me at that moment, I don’t even know where I would have started,” Te‑Quana said.

Red Cross volunteers continued working with Te‑Quana in the days and weeks after the fire, helping her connect to community resources and create a recovery plan.

The family pushed their hotel birthday celebration to Sunday instead of Saturday. The short pause allowed them time to breathe before giving the kids a small bit of normalcy — swimming, cupcakes and a moment to unwind after such a traumatic ordeal.

Two days after the fire, Te‑Quana brought Honezty back to the house to see what could be salvaged. “The minute Honezty walked into the house, she broke down crying,” she said. “And I told her, we can get another house, we can get more stuff. We can’t get you and your brother or sisters back.”

Beaming with pride, Te‑Quana sees a strength in her daughter that echoes her own past. When Te‑Quana was 8 years old, she escaped a house fire and got her younger brothers out safely. Her own mother had always shared that story. Now, her daughter has her own story of courage – one that saved lives.

“We miss being home, but we’ll figure that out as time goes on,” Te‑Quana said. What stays with her far more than the loss is the bravery her daughter showed. Honezty had learned about fire safety at school just two weeks before the fire, and in the moment she needed it most, she remembered exactly what to do.

“I’m just so proud of her,” Te‑Quana said. “I know it was scary, but I’m so proud of you.”

Red Cross volunteers support families like Te‑Quana’s after home fires or other local disasters – about 175 times a day. Local Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteers are ready to respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help neighbors facing emergencies.