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Watch interview with Firefighter Chad Meyer about the rescue
Read detailed account of the rescue from the Tulsa Fire Department
A 55-year-old woman trapped in her burning apartment stayed on the phone with 911 for ten-minutes as firefighters worked to find her. It happened around 4:00 on Tuesday morning at the Royal Arms Apartments at 5132 South Norfolk Avenue.
Public Safety Response Center Dispatcher Jeff Pestel took the call from the woman and guided her through the desperate moments. The woman lost consciousness and stopped breathing as the crew from Engine 26 worked through heavy fire conditions to get to her. Fire Equipment Operator Chad Meyer told reporters the door to the woman’s apartment had burned through from the fire in the common area.
Video from KOTV-TV shows Meyer carrying the woman to a balcony. She is reported in critical condition.
The fire went to a second-alarm and is believed to be connected to a
methamphetamine lab in the apartment where the fire started. Three others were injured in the fire including one person with burns who was dropped off at a local emergency room.
KOTV-TV reports this is the image of Firefighter Chad Meyer bringing the woman to safety from her burning apartment.
Police want to talk to this woman who dropped off one of the fire victims at St. Francis Hospital. Read more from Tulsa World.
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OUTSTANDING JOB! Not only does the guy who made the grab have a set, so does whoever had command. It also says alot about the folks this guy works with to trust them to have his back.
Hats off to our brothers in Tulsa. Great jobs all around.
Dave, Take a look at the arial views of the building. This is an outstanding example of what a properly built firewall can do to protect the rest of the apartment complex
GREAT GOING EXCELLENT JOB
Great job done by all who were involved.
That call reminded me about a house fire that happened about 15 years ago in the Bladensburg area. However the results were very tragic. What made it so frustrating was that 911 was on the phone with a pregnant women with 2 kids trapped. A fully staffed engine crew with a charged hose line and a hydrant hooked up across the street from the burning house, was ordered not to enter the house by a Volunteer Chief, who was reminded several times by Communications that there were people trapped.
I am glad the brothers in Tulsa had a set.
For the person bringing up the Bladensburg fire I would say there is no comparison between the fire conditions.
Having covered the PGFD blaze, as I recall from the video, that was just a room or two off in a house. Not quite the amount of fire I see on the video from Tulsa yesterday morning.
To be fair, rather than just point out an old one from PG, there was a more recent case we covered in Fairfax County with a woman still on the phone when the firefighters arrived for a kitchen fire. In that one the acting fire chief said clearly we should have found her.
Statter
Great job by the Brothers in Tulsa! I have spent some time riding with that department and they are a great group of guys. The video appears to show two firefighters carrying the woman.
Great job by the entire crew!!
Mr. Stater, You are absolutely correct about the fire conditions in Tulsa and the one in PG. I was on that fire in PG. For those courageous men in Tulsa my hats off to them. The difference was that that apartment had the inherent dangers of collapse. But the PG house fire, all you had to do was flow that 2" line and put the fire out and at least have a chance to save the pregnant woman and her two kids. The Vol. Chief gave them NO chance. Oh yeah he did call for the Strike Team.
Great job on the grab no doubt!! Under those fire conditions it definately takes balls to do what those guys did.
On the other hand, they've got exterior lines and interior lines operating simultaneously. Not quite sure what was happening on the scene, but it looked like the exterior crew was pushing fire in on the guys inside.