LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. --
From the outside, a charred window pane and bubbled paint on the front door are the only signs of a fire that nearly destroyed a home on South Military Avenue in Lawrenceburg Saturday morning.
"It was awful," said Rebecca McNeil. "There was smoke everywhere."
McNeil was asleep in a back bedroom when smoke and flames consumed her children's bedroom.
"It's the worst feeling you'll ever feel in your life, thinking one of your kids is inside," she said.
The closest fire station was just a few blocks away, allowing firefighters to get to the home in minutes. Sixteen firefighters brought two engines and a ladder to the home, but Lawrenceburg K-9 Officer Blake Grooms got there first.
"I could see the smoke rolling out the bedroom window," he said. "As I'm banging on the door, I noticed a small child pull the curtain back on the door. At that point, I panicked and I began to kick the door in."
Just beyond the doorway, two children were still in the burning bedroom and more children were in the house.
"As I was moving them from the bedroom to the living room, I noticed two little feet run off down the hall. I went to go get them [sic] little feet," Grooms said.
Grooms helped save the lives of four adults and eight children, but he wasn't alone. Lawrenceburg firefighters Lt. Jason Frakes, Capt. Shane Adams and Capt. Jerry Campbell were right behind him.
"Just to know you got somebody you can trust on the rear side of you, it makes a whole lot of difference," he said.
For Rebecca McNeil, Grooms is among those who have made a difference for her and her children.
"We probably would have lost more than we did. We probably would have lost our lives," she said.
According to Lawrenceburg Fire Department Operations Chief Jay Moore, the fire started with two children playing with a lighter. The fire damage was contained to the front bedroom, but smoke and heat damaged other parts of the home.
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