‘Heroic actions’: Miami Fire Rescue awards man who saved his family from burning house
.jpg "Darryl Manning received the Life Saving Award from Miami Fire Rescue Feb. 26, 2021, for saving his wife, stepson and two daughters from a house fire in 2019.")
It was just before 5 a.m. nearly two years ago when Darryl Manning’s wife woke him up because she sensed something was wrong.
Manning, 58, quickly realized that their bedroom was really hot. He went to the door and was overtaken by smoke.
His wife, Connie, started screaming. Manning jumped into action.
He punched out a window, and he helped his wife and stepson to go outside; Zachary, 15, had been jarred out of sleep after hearing his mom scream and had come to their bedroom.
Bleeding and frantic, Manning then squeezed himself through the small opening to the outside. He ran around the house, grabbed the pool ladder on the way, and headed to his young daughters’ bedroom.
He quickly broke the window to the bedroom, woke his daughters — 11-year-old Skylah, and 6-year-old Dorriona — and led them outside on the ladder. He then attacked the fire with garden hose.
When the ordeal was done, the front room of the house was destroyed.
But everyone was safe.
Last month, Miami Fire Rescue recognized Manning’s heroic effort in saving his family in April 2019 by presenting him with The Life Saving Award.
“I was blown away,” Manning said about receiving the award. He said that his wife deserves the credit: “Without her, I never would have woken up.”
Getting recognition
City of Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Devin Davis said that he nominated Manning for the award “because of his heroic actions under hazardous and chaotic conditions.”
“Mr. Manning put his own health and well being aside to successfully rescue his loved ones from sure fatal results,” Davis said.
Manning was given a plaque that bears his name and says: “For your acts of courage and outstanding performance that saved the lives of your family on April 12, 2019 from a potentially perilous house fire. Your heroic actions will always be remembered.”
The fire
Manning — a comedian who performs under the name Sky Dogg Manning — said that he had been renting the home at 1430 NW 59th St. for about two years when the fire occurred.
When his wife woke him up, his first instinct was to check on the children. He tried to enter the hallway to his girls’ room, but the smoke was too thick.
“For the first two minutes, I was thinking my kids were dead,” Manning said.
When he finally got to his girls, he realized that their room was untouched.
Manning said he didn’t realize how badly he was injured until afterward. He spent a couple of days in the hospital, where he was treated for deep cuts from the glass windows he had to break.
“I was cut wide open,” said Manning, who still has scars.
Manning said the blaze started in the living room because of a faulty air conditioner.
After the fire, Manning moved to a home in North Miami.
The first thing he looked for in the new place: fire alarms.
“That fire terrified me,” Manning said. “It really pushed me to make sure everything is safe.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
