Rescues in Chillicothe

Feb. 18–Firefighters in Chillicothe rescued a small child, her parents and one other occupant from an apartment late Tuesday night.

Crews responded to the apartment building at 19 Webster St., shortly before midnight where a fire had reportedly trapped a young child and her parents, said Chillicothe Fire Chief Darrell Wright. Smoke was found coming from the northeast corner of the second floor.

A ladder was deployed to the second floor where parents of a 3-year-old girl handed her out the window, Mr. Wright said. The child did not appear injured, he added.

In the rescue attempt, additional firefighters made entry to the second floor and escorted the adults down a stairwell. They also escaped without injury, fire crews reported.

“We also found another adult laying outside apartment 7,” Mr. Wright said. “We believe that might of been where the fire started.”

The occupant was rescued from the building and transported to Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe for treatment. Mr. Wright said the man was then flown to a Kansas City hospital for treatment of burns.

Another adult neighbor was also transported to the hospital for further care. The Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office was called to investigate the fire.

“There were about nine to 12 total (individuals) in the apartment building at the time of the fire,” Mr. Wright said.

Power was disconnected and building occupants were instructed to find other places to stay for the night.

“Right now, (the Fire Marshal) has not initially ruled out smoking as the cause,” Mr. Wright said. “We don’t know if that is what (the cause) is, but he also hasn’t ruled it out.”

The most damage to the building was found to be in apartment 7, Mr. Wright added. The cause remains under investigation, but no foul play is suspected.

Karla Long, disaster program manager with the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri, said volunteers will be meeting with fire victims individually to assess emergency needs.

About Author

countyfiretactics

Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.

Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.

He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.

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