UPDATED STORY AT 6:45 P.M.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus firefighters rescued a disabled woman trapped in the back bedroom of a home in the 200 block of South Hinman Street after fire engulfed the residence Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters were sent to 201 S. Hinman St. at about 4:42 p.m. on the report of a bed on fire in the home, with the flames spreading to a nearby wall, said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman.
When Engine 3 firefighters arrived, the first on the scene, they learned a male and female occupant of the home were out, but said the disabled woman was unable to leave the back bedroom of the home on her own, Wilson said.
Firefighters immediately went to rescue the woman, who they found in a mechanical lift device used to move bedridden patients, Wilson said. She was unable to free herself from the device, but firefighters quickly moved her out of the home and she was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, where she was being evaluated for possible transfer to a Level 1 trauma center in Indianapolis.
Wilson said the woman did not have visible burns but there was concern about smoke inhalation and possible thermal burns to her airway from being trapped in a high heat, smoke-filled room for a length of time.
After the rescue, firefighters began putting out the fire, which took about 10 minutes before it was under control, Wilson said.
When firefighters arrived, flames and smoke were shooting through a screened-in front porch on the front of the two-bedroom home, eventually causing the front area to collapse, Wilson said.
The home was considered a complete loss with heavy and massive fire, smoke and water damage to the structure, firefighters said.
Two cats inside the home did perish during the fire.
Firefighters did have to be wary of heat-related issues in the near-90 degree temperatures Thursday afternoon, Wilson said. No injuries among the firefighters were reported.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
