But the second time around, her prize may have helped save her home from flames.

In April Sriram won first prize in the 26th annual Sunnyvale Fire Safety Poster Contest's second-grade division. Her prize? A shiny red fire extinguisher.

That same extinguisher was sitting on the kitchen counter when smoke streamed out of her family's oven into their North Mathilda Avenue apartment at 6:45 p.m. on May 17.

Smruthi's mother, Chitra Sriram, said she had been making dinner when she turned away after making a plate of french fries for her daughters. She heard a loud pop, like a balloon exploding, and ran back to the source of the sound—the oven. She opened it up to look inside and it was filling with smoke, so she sent her daughters outside for safety, and her husband grabbed the new extinguisher to put out any possible flames.

By the time firefighters arrived, the family was safe, and the smoke was being vented out the doors and windows.

At the time, none of the firefighters recognized the girl who had honored them with her "Firefighters are your friends" poster.

"[The firefighter] said 'Good thing that you bought the fire extinguisher and kept it in the kitchen,'" Chitra Sriram said. "We laughed and said, 'We didn't buy it, we won it in your contest!'"

She said her family did not own fire extinguishers because her apartment complex had one hanging outside their front door. But when her daughter won a new one, they proudly set it in the kitchen, for display or future need.

"I knew it might be useful at any time; that's why we kept it in the kitchen," Sriram said.

Smruthi Sriram's older sister, Shruthi, is also an accomplished artist, having won the city's SMART Station poster contest. So far, though, the fire extinguisher is the only prize the family still uses.

When he heard the news, Mayor John Howe—who had originally presented the prize to Smruthi—said the Kiwanis Club, which sponsored the award, should be commended for giving fire extinguishers and smoke alarms instead of paper certificates.

Chitra Sriram said she will continue to encourage her daughters to release their artistic talents, as well as stay safe in potentially dangerous situations.