Cairo High School athlete Riko Nelson helps save family from fire

CAIRO, Ill. — As he stepped out his front door Thursday night, Riko Nelson did not know the next few minutes would lead him to be hailed as a local hero.

The senior Cairo High School basketball player found himself facing a fully-involved structure fire across the street at 2411 Park Ave., and with no first responders in sight, the 18-year-old leaped into action.

High-speed winds had carried flames from the structure fire to a second house at 2415 Park Ave., where a family of three had been sleeping for about an hour and a half.

As the second structure became engulfed in flames, Nelson called for his father and dialed 911, then ran toward the blazing fire and awakened the family inside by banging on the door.

Tyrus Davis, Yolanda Lyas and her 14-year-old daughter, Gabriella, escaped with their lives after being evacuated by Nelson, but the family lost everything inside the home.

“We’ve still got each other, and that’s all that matters,” Lyas said Tuesday as she stood outside the ashes of her former home of five years. Still, the mother mentioned a few irreplaceable items the fire consumed — memories of her children growing up, diplomas and awards.

After evacuating, Davis said he ran to the other home where the fire began and kicked in the door to make sure the home was unoccupied.

Teea Ferrell was at work when the fire burned through her home of six years. Ferrell said her children sometimes stay at home under the care of a babysitter while she works, but on the night of the fire they were at their grandmother’s house.

A chimney flue rises above the remains of Teea Ferrell's home of six years Tuesday in Cairo, Illinois, where a structure fire Thursday started at the property and spread to another home next door. No one was home when the fire started.BEN MATTHEWS

As occupants of both homes now search for new residences, they all expressed their appreciation for the outpouring of support they have received from Cairo citizens, schools and churches.

Fire departments from Cairo, Cairo Auxiliary, Mounds and Mound City, Illinois, kept the fire from spreading to any other homes in the neighborhood, according to Cairo fire chief John Meyer, and some of the flames burned until Saturday. Both homes were burned to their foundations and ruled complete losses.

The fire chief said no one was injured in the fire, and the student’s decision was heroic.

Nelson, however, said there was no time for him to decide otherwise.

“It was a ‘do first, think last’ type of thing,” Nelson explained.

In the days since the incident, Nelson has become the subject of multiple news stories and the recipient of much praise, but the senior athlete said he is not letting the recent fame go to his head.

“It’s a blessing that everyone is okay, and that’s all that matters,” Nelson said.

Cairo High School senior basketball player Riko Nelson stands with his neighbors, from left, Teea Ferrell, Tyrus Davis and Yolanda Lyas on Tuesday in Cairo, Illinois. Nelson helped evacuate Davis and Lyas from their burning home before emergency personnel could arrive to the scene of the fire Thursday in the 2400 block of Park Avenue that burned two homes to their foundations.BEN MATTHEWS