Couple Recovering From Burns After Plano Barn Fire
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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - A husband and wife are recovering from burns after escaping a barn that caught fire. It started just before 7:00am Wednesday on Parker Road where the barn sits close to several homes.
There isn't much left of the barn that served as a temporary home for the couple. If there is a silver lining, it's that firefighters were able to stop the fire before it spread to the house the couple is remodeling, and the family tells us the husband and wife will be okay.
Marc Ubaldi looked out over the burned out barn his mother-and-father-in-law had been using as a temporary residence while they remodeled their dream home next door. He got to the scene of the fire just after speaking to them.
"They're in the hospital right now. They're burned, but they're okay, so thanks to the Plano Fire Department for their quick response," Ubaldi said.
Paramedics airlifted Lei Zhuang to Parkland Hospital where firefighters say doctors treated him for second and third degree burns over 45% of his body. Rescue crews took his wife Xiaoping Zhuang to Parkland by ambulance with less severe burns.
"The husband was awakened by their dog barking. When he got up, he found the fire. He went and got his wife," Plano Fire-Rescue Captain Ron Cooper said.
"They're okay. They're more worried about the animals than themselves," Ubaldi said.
Several chickens escaped the fire and spread out onto the sidewalk, but the horses, llamas, goats, and dogs were not so lucky.
"Any animal that was in was unfortunately stuck in, did not make it out," Ubaldi said adding that the dog who saved the couple was among those animals killed in the fire.
As of Wednesday evening Parkland Hospital listed the couple in serious condition, but family members expect them to make a full recovery. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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