GEORGETOWN, SC (WBTW) – Three people trapped inside a burning home were rescued by Georgetown City Police and Georgetown City Firefighters Wednesday morning.The fire broke out inside a home on Pyatt Avenue in the Country Club Estates neighborhood at 4:55 a.m. Wednesday.
When the first firefighters arrived on the scene at 4:58 a.m., Georgetown City Fire Chief Charlie Cribb says the house was nearly engulfed in flames.
Firefighters discovered there were two elderly people and a caretaker inside the home, which was full of smoke and flames, Cribb said.
The deadbolt on the front door was locked and the fire had spread too quickly for the residents to make it to the back door. Cribb says the amount of smoke in the home stopped the residents from seeing where they needed to go to escape.
Cribb said members of his crew worked with Georgetown Police to get the front door open and were able to get the three people out of the house uninjured.
“That was a tremendous rescue by everyone involved this morning,” said Cribb. “I say it all the time, people hear me talking about it all the time, but our rapid response time really makes a difference in the final outcome of whatever emergency we are responding to.”
Cribb says were it not for the immediate action of the first responders, the outcome of the fire could have been much different.“I don’t think people really think about it, but our crews jump out of bed and are in a full-fledged war zone in about two or three minutes,” explains Cribb.
Cribb said 24 firefighters from his department, Georgetown County Fire, and Midway Fire Rescue worked to extinguish the blaze. He said the fire was out shortly before 7 a.m.
“The house was a bad loss but we will take life over a house any day. They went to battle this morning and got them out,” says Cribb.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
