Firefighters Save Elderly Person Trying To Escape Via Stairlift

BUFORD, GA - Firefighters rescued an elderly person from a fire Wednesday by forcing the door and carrying the person down the stairs to safety.

On Feb. 27, at 7:30 a.m., firefighters responded to a resident’s report of an apartment fire on the 400 block of Eagle Tiff Drive NE in Buford. The caller to 911 stated that everything was on fire.

Neighbors told fire crews that an elderly person with limited mobility was still inside of the townhome to the right of the fire unit. After knocks on the door were not responded to, crews forced entry. The elderly patient was attempting to get into a mechanical stairlift to get down to the first floor. Firefighters carried the elderly patient out of the unit as it was beginning to fill with smoke.

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According to firefighters, the unit was completely gutted. The adjacent unit had minor smoke damage noted on the top floors.

Crews arrived to find a working fire on a three-story townhome with flames coming out of the garage located on the front of the structure. Smoke alarms inside of the residence alerted the occupants and they had already evacuated the fire unit. Due to the size of the blaze and the speed with which it was spreading, firefighters deployed a large hose line to begin their attack. A walk around the structure revealed that the fire had already moved up to the first and second floors. Two fire attack hose lines were deployed to get the fire extinguished.

Paramedics on scene evaluated one patient from the fire unit with minor complaints. The patient was transported, non-emergent, to the hospital for further evaluation. The elderly patient from the adjacent unit was also assessed but declined transport to the hospital and a patient refusal was obtained.

The American Red Cross will be providing assistance to two families. The fire unit has a family of three (two adults and one child) that have been displaced. Since the power has been turned off to the three townhomes on the block, assistance is also being provided to a family of five (three adults and two children) living furthest from the fire unit. The elderly patient living in the unit adjacent to the fire unit has declined assistance.

Per fire investigators, the blaze was caused by a trickle battery charger in the garage.