MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee fifth grader was recognized as a hero Wednesday, at his own school.

He heard the cheers of his classmates and words of praise from Milwaukee's mayor and fire chief for saving his family from a New Year's Day fire. 

Chief Aaron Lipski and Mayor Cavalier Johnson appeared at Ralph Waldo Emerson School, on the city's northwest side, to salute Noah Nitka. 

On Jan. 1, he discovered a fire in his bedroom. He closed the door and yelled, "fire!" to wake everyone up. He went to his sister's room, felt the door for heat, then went inside, grabbed her, and took her to a neighbor's house. 

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Thanks to Noah's cool head and the safety education he's received, everyone in the house escaped the fire. 

'Where'd you learn that muscle memory?" Noah was asked. 

"Survive Alive House," he said. "Thankfully, I listened. It was real useful."

"He talked about it a lot when he went on the field trip," Noah's mom, Genesis Bainbridge, said. "It seemed like a really -- they keep it fun, while also teaching them something super important."

The Milwaukee Fire Department's Survive Alive House is used to simulate conditions in an actual fire, to show students how to respond. 

Noah Nitka visited Survive Alive with his class in September, weeks before his house fire.