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Sharp-eyed girl credited with preventing Framingham blaze

E-mail|Link|Comments () February 23, 2010 04:30 PM

Kaitlyn Alves was joined by her mother (in white) and father (in striped sweater) as she got a thank-you card, a check, and tickets to "Beauty and the Beast" from the grateful bank staff and an insurance agency.

By Stefanie Geisler, Globe Correspondent

A sharp-eyed 9-year-old from Framingham is being credited with helping avert a major fire by noticing the beginnings of the blaze and pointing it out to her parents.

Kaitlyn Alves was riding in a car past the Framingham Co-operative Bank on Concord Street with her parents, Mary and John, on Sunday, Jan. 24 when she spotted flames inside the building. Kaitlyn alerted her father. He dialed 911, and firefighters and police arrived within minutes.

In a ceremony earlier this month, bank employees thanked the family in person, and bank president Mark R. Haranas presented Kaitlyn with a check. The bank declined to disclose the amount.

The Hayden Wood Insurance Agency, which insures the bank, matched the bank’s check – and it gave Kaitlyn tickets to a “Beauty and the Beast” performance at Worcester's Hanover Theater.