Dallas Fire-Rescue Press Release

 

Contact:     Lt. Doug Dickerson, PIO                                                             Date:  August 16, 2001

                   Office: 214-670-7949                                                             Immediate Release

             Pager : 214-670-4115,code 9885

House Fire Kills 2, Leaves 2 in

Critical Condition

 

Date of Incident: August 16, 2001

 

Location: 6054 Parkdale Drive

 

Response: 1-alarm, 6 pieces of firefighting equipment, 5 rescue units, 32 firefighters

           

Times:  1st alarm—6:40 a.m. 

              Under Control @ 7:29 a.m.               

 

Cause: Careless Smoking                               

 

Injuries:  2 fatalities—a 59-year-old male and an 18-month-old female.

                 2 in critical condition—a 48-year-old female at Baylor Hospital and a 5-year-old male at Childrens Medical Center, both suffering from smoke inhalation.                      

                  No names are being released at this time

 

Damages: 6,500--Structure

                  3,500--Content

                                   

Details: Firefighters arrived to the single story home to find smoke showing from the outside.  As firefighters prepared to make a fire attack, they were notified by a neighbor that someone was still inside.  The first firefighters quickly began an aggressive search of the home, aided by additional firefighters now arriving on the scene.  Four victims were found unconscious inside, all of them in the rear of the house.  The fire started in a sofa and was quickly contained to the front living room area but not before smoke had completely filled the home.  Firefighters and paramedics were performing CPR on all 4 victims at the scene as they were being transported to area hospitals.  Smoke detectors were found in the home but were inoperable.  A smoke detector near the area where the victims were found did not have a battery.  Dallas Fire-Rescue would like to remind everyone that smoke detectors do save lives. If you live in the City of Dallas and need a smoke detector in your home, you can simply call 3-1-1 to make that request.  Firefighters and fire prevention officers will install them free of charge.