East Chicago Firefighters Rescue Elderly Resident From Burning Home
(CBS) -- A chance discovery and a quick response kept a fire in East Chicago, Ind. from becoming deadly.
"This is what we practice for," Interim Fire Chief Anthony Serna told WBBM the rescue of the elderly woman was "just another day in the office" for the experienced East Chicago fire personnel, who quickly knocked down the fire in the 5500 block of Reading Avenue.
But he said the woman would not have lived had NICTD police officer Raul Agosto not reported the fire when he did. Agosto, a retired East Chicago officer who works for the railroad's police department, spotted flames through a kitchen window.
He knew that the East Chicago department was in the midst of a shift change and that city police officers were not in the area, so he called dispatch.
Neighbors told Agosto and arriving firefighters that the woman was still inside. Firefighters knocked down the door to her apartment, and Serna said she answered weakly when they asked if anyone was inside.
They found her as smoke was drifting toward the floor and carried her out.
The woman was treated at St. Catherine's Hospital and is expected to recover. Serna said the cause is undetermined, but said the fire is not believed to be suspicious.