Brighten Your Day

Teen Who Lost Everything In Fire Spends His Last $40 On Firefighters

July 22, 2017

An Alabama mom can't help but brag about her 15-year-old son Kenneth.

"In general, teenagers get a bad rap," Casie Bennett told AL.com. "My son is a good kid. He really is."

Kenneth Bennett / Credit: Mobile Traffic Facebook

Earlier this month the Bennett family's house burned down and they lost everything. On the night of the fire, Kenneth returned from a friend's house to find volunteer firefighters battling to put out the blaze that had consumed his home.

Shockingly, the high school sophomore thought not of himself or his possessions, but of the firefighters. Their cooler, he noticed, was near empty.

Around 1am, after the fire was out, Kenneth went to a nearby gas station to buy a root beer. There he noticed some cases of water, so he handed the clerk $40, and took the water straight to the fire department.

Credit: Mobile Traffic Facebook

That $40 was all Kenneth had left.

"He had been saving that money for his anniversary, the day after the fire," Casie explained to AL.com. "He wanted to take his girlfriend, Bailey, to Ruth's Chris."

A few days later Casie sent her go-to local traffic source, Mobile Traffic, a Facebook message with a question about traffic on the Interstate. Shortly into the conversation she told the mysterious man behind the page about what Kenneth had done for the firefighters.

Touched, the man behind Mobile Traffic reached out to fans of his page for help treating Kenneth to dinner at a local restaurant and possibly a limo to help him surprise his girlfriend with a nice night. And boy did they pull through.

This week, with help from a few generous fans, Kenneth was given new clothes, a limo ride, and a free meal at Felix's Fish Camp – Spanish Fort for himself and his girlfriend.

Credit: Mobile Traffic Facebook

When Kenneth was asked why he had spent his remaining money the way he had, this was his answer:

"I just saw the firefighters were down to their last couple of bottled waters and figured it was the least I could do for them putting out our house fire for us."

To donate to the Bennett family, visit GoFundMe.