Loved ones of 13-year-old Dylan Waldron-Dickson remember him as loving, playful and creative.

“When you walked past, he would squeeze your hand, or he may hug you and he had a smile that lit up any room that he was in,” his aunt, Allison Waldron, said.

Waldron-Dickson’s young life was tragically cut short when a fire broke out at his East Flatbush home on Sunday morning.

What You Need To Know

  • 13-year-old Dylan Waldron-Dickens was pronounced dead after a fire broke out at his East Flatbush home on Sunday

  • The teen’s family believes he was confused about what to do during a fire emergency

  • His mother and brother were able to escape the fire

Waldron said her nephew was autistic and non-verbal. While being autistic was challenging, she said Waldron-Dickson still enjoyed life.

Just shy of his 14th birthday, he was around 6 feet tall and about 180 pounds, yet he was kind and gentle like a gentle giant, Waldron said.

Firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire near Snyder Avenue and East 34th Street just before 10:30 a.m. Flames had been reported on the fifth floor of the seven-story building.

Waldron said her nephew lived in a sixth-floor apartment with his mother, 50-year-old Trina Waldron, and his 21-year-old brother, Camar.

“My sister-in-law is convinced that it really started on the fifth floor, and then came up the wall into her apartment,” Waldron said.

Firefighters pulled the 13-year-old, his mother and brother from the burning building and rushed them to the hospital, where Waldron-Dickson was pronounced dead.

Waldron-Dickson’s mother said she and her older son tried to get the young teen to leave the smoke-filled apartment, but he was afraid, and held on to the door panel so tightly that they could not pry him off.

“His brain just couldn’t connect, ‘We have to go, we have to go,’” Waldron said. “And he just locked in. And because he’s like a big, strong kid, they just couldn’t, they couldn’t move him.”

By the time firefighters reached him, Waldron-Dickson had inhaled a considerable amount of smoke. The family believes that because he was autistic, he could not understand why he should have left the apartment.

His mother was unharmed and his brother suffered minor injuries. Three firefighters were also injured.

While Waldron said the boy’s autism may have contributed to his death, she said it did not define him.

“He was very, very loving,” she said.

In addition to losing Waldron-Dickson, his family lost most of their belongings in the fire.

Loved ones have started an online fundraiser to help with replacing some items and the cost of the funeral, which will be held next Saturday, Feb. 4.

Waldron-Dickson would have celebrated his 14th birthday just a few weeks later.