Thanks to two firefighters, a 93-year-old woman was saved from a burning home Tuesday morning.
A family escaped a house fire in south Columbus, but two received enough injuries to go to the hospital for treatment.
The fire occurred about 2:20 a.m. at 1220 Fourth St. S., the home of Maureen Roberts. Her mother, 93-year-old Harriett Hood, was trapped inside when the fire took place, and firefighters rescued her from the burning home.
“(Hood) was pulled out of the house by firefighters Martin Andrews and Jeff Edmondson,” said Carole Summerall, Columbus Fire and Rescue fire safety officer.
The two people injured were Hood and her son, 68-year-old Charlie Mixon. Mixon received burns to his face, which Summerall said were probably second-degree, and went to the hospital for treatment. Mixon went to the hospital in his personal vehicle.
Hood received second- and third-degree burns to her feet and legs. She was transported by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle. Summerall said Hood is handicapped.
“They are taking her to a burn center, but I’m not sure which one,” he said.
When the blaze began to spread inside the home, Hood woke up Mixon with calls for help.
“They tried to put the fire out with the fire extinguishers. Then (Mixon and a friend) tried to pull her out, and they got her to the living room and that’s when the firefighters arrived and got her the rest of the way,” Summerall said, noting at this point the fire was “rolling across the ceiling from the bedroom.”
“The problem with burns is infections, and with her being an elderly person that is one of the things they have to be careful about.”
Columbus Fire Marshal Todd Weathers said it started in the southwest bedroom. The fire is still under investigation.
Roberts said the fire probably started when her mother was smoking a cigarette in her bedroom and fell asleep.
“They had a smoke alarm, but it didn’t work because it was so old,” Summerall said. “I have it in my car, and I don’t even know if it has batteries in it. A working smoke alarm doubles your chances of surviving a house fire. If they are older than 10 years old, they need to be replaced. That one, I had never seen one like it.”
Firefighters said the house received around $15,000 in damage.
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