Idaho Chief Recalls Rescue of Woman From Fire

Palouse Fire Chief Mike Baggott said the weekend rescue of an unconscious woman from a burning two-story home in Palouse was surreal.

"We had no inclination at all she was in there until I happened to find her," Baggott said Monday. "It was a very big surprise."

At every other structure fire he has attended, Baggott said occupants evacuated the building before firefighters arrived. If someone needed help, officials were notified immediately. That was not the case Friday, when an accidental fire reportedly began around 9:15 p.m. in a home in the 300 block of West Cannon Street. Two girls ages 10 and 4 managed to escape the blaze uninjured and, according to reports, said their mother was not at home. Baggott said the mother must have returned during the incident.

"Our assumption is she thought they were still in (the home)," Baggott said, explaining that she may have entered the building in an attempt to save her children. "It's a response you can't blame a parent for having."

When Baggott and a crew of about 13 first responders arrived, the house appeared engulfed in flames. Baggott entered the building after firefighters began attacking the blaze from the outside, and said the main part of the house was relatively clear.

"I had picked up a cat that was meowing when I got there," he said. "In my head I was kind of chuckling that my big rescue was going to be this cat.

"It was just a completely surreal experience of all of a sudden going from that to, 'Hey, there's a victim right here, we have to get out of here in a big hurry.' "

Baggott was afraid the woman lying on the floor in the dining room was dead, but she regained some consciousness as she was being carried from the home.

"Mike Chapman out of (Whitman County Fire) District 12 said she squeezed his arm or his hand, so we knew she was alive," Baggott said.

The woman was treated and transported by Life Flight helicopter to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. She is in stable condition and is expected to recover.

"She's a lucky lady," Baggott said. "The fire never got to her. She was dealing with smoke predominantly, but the heat level in the room never got really close to the floor."

Her children are staying with grandparents, Baggott said. He added that the cat he had located was saved from the fire, but a second cat was found dead at the scene.

Cause

Baggott said it is "almost impossible" to know what caused the fire, which likely began in the kitchen and was moving through the dining room toward the second floor when firefighters arrived.

It was likely electrical, Baggott said.

The kitchen was destroyed, but the rest of the home is salvageable.

Baggott and 13 Palouse firefighters responded along with about 12 Pullman firefighters and four Colfax firefighters, with assistance from a Pullman ambulance crew. The scene was cleared by 5 a.m. Saturday.

"It was a great team effort," he said. "That spirit of cooperation that exists around here is just unbeatable. It doesn't work like that everywhere."

Katie Roenigk can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 301, or by email to [email protected].