Outstanding Youth

Livonia Outstanding Youth Award: Chase Adams, Colin Anderson, Ethan Morche

It was the last week of summer vacation when lifelong neighbors and friends Chase Adams, Colin Anderson and Ethan Morche were returning home from a trip to the store. Adams was driving on Ellen Drive, south of Five Mile, when he noticed billowing smoke. Initially, he thought it was bonfire in someone’s yard. As they got closer, they realized a house was on fire.

They didn’t hesitate. Adams stopped the car and the trio entered the house through a back door. Morche, the son of a firefighter, went to the second floor to guide a 79-year-old lady out of the house. Anderson and Adams helped the lady’s 56-year-old son, who was physically limited, to the sidewalk as police and fire sirens sounded in the distance. The Churchill High School students were able to report to the arriving first responders the house was clear of people. “The No. 1 thing we are concerned with in a fire is the safety of life,” Livonia Fire Chief Robert Jennison said. “To know people were already out took a tremendous risk off our plate.”

In the aftermath of their heroic act, they received plenty of media attention, praise from teachers, ribbing from classmates during school fire drills, and made an appearance on the “Dr. Phil” show. Their parents, however, had mixed emotions: They were irked their sons dangerously entered a burning house, but proud of their bravery and selflessness. “My parents told me that was scary, but I wouldn’t change a thing,” said Adams, a 16-year-old junior who plays on the Churchill hockey team. “I’m just glad we got there in time.” For Anderson, the Aug. 29 rescue took place on his 16th birthday.

He said the whole situation was surreal that started when the trio made plans the night before. “I keep thinking: If we didn’t make those plans, or stayed in the store five more minutes, then we would not be there in time,” said Anderson, also a junior and a member of the school’s soccer team. Morche recalls the trio sitting in his garage a couple hours after the incident as their clothes still smelled of smoke. “We were asking if that really happened,” said Morche, a 15-year-old sophomore and three-sport athlete. “It was dangerous to go in there without gear on, but we got there in time. I still wouldn’t have done anything different.” Jennison made it clear that untrained people should not go into a burning building, but he added: “It was very brave of them to risk their lives for perfect strangers. It is great to see their concern for humanity.” And for the woman who was helped out of the burning house, she made one outreach to the trio to call them her “guardian angels.”

The Livonia Outstanding Youth Award is given annually to Livonia students who demonstrate extraordinary contributions to the community.