Neighbors Try To Rescue Elderly Local Woman From House Fire
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - An elderly Fort Worth man runs outside his home and screams that his wife is 'on fire' and neighbors come to the rescue. "It was like so horrible hearing that guy say his wife was 'burning'. He was like, 'Dear Lord, she's on fire. She's burning'."
Allen Hallman and Lewis Paquette ran to the burning house after hearing Pastor John Johnson's shouts for help. "He was pointing to where his wife was, I'm assuming it was the bed, and it was just completely engulfed, the whole place," Hallman recalled.
Paquette grabbed a garden hose, knocked out the window nearest Alma Johnson, who is bedridden, and tried to douse the flames. "I was kind of in shock, but I knew we had to do something, because we tried to save her. She was still breathing," he said.
The two Good Samaritan's couldn't get Mrs. Johnson out but used the hose to spray water to try and keep flames away from the 82-year-old woman until rescuers arrived and got her out. Mrs. Johnson had severe burns and was taken by helicopter ambulance to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
John Johnson is the pastor of the Greater Progressive Church of God and Christ. Tuesday afternoon a member of the church announced that Mrs. Johnson had died. Rev. Kyev Tatum sent the update saying, "Mother Alma Johnson passed away in Dallas. She was a strong woman of faith and love. Our hearts go out to the family and Church."
According to Tim Hardeman, with the Fort Worth Fire Department, investigators know how the blaze started. "The cause of the fire was accidental, due to a candle left burning in the room where the burn victim was," he said.
Neighbor Paquette was treated for injuries at the scene. John Johnson was treated for shock and burns to his forehead and released from a local hospital.
