Eight Rescued From Rooming House Fire
Two police officers rushed into a burning rooming house Thursday and rescued eight people, including four children and a crippled adult confined to a wheelchair.
One of the officers, Merle Thomas, went into the burning house despite his admitted fear of fire.
“I’m surprised I went in,” he said. “When they said there were kids in there, that really affected me.”
Patrolman J. J. Roberts discovered the two-story house on fire about 1:30 a.m. He radioed for help and he and Thomas picked their way through dense smoke to pull the sleeping occupants from their bedrooms.
None of the occupants was injured but Thomas suffered minor burns to one arm.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
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