North Charlotte Today

Firefighters from Charlotte Fire Engine 3 recently played a pivotal role in the rescue of two residents trapped in their home during a house fire. The incident occurred on Sunday, May 19, when crews responded to a distress call at a residence on the 700 block of Allister Road in Charlotte.

The call was received at 9:23 a.m., with resident John Sibray alerting the Charlotte Fire Alarm that he and another person were trapped inside their burning home. Within three minutes of the initial call, Battalion Chief Brian Beatty arrived at the scene.

"I could see the smoke showing and confirmed this was a working fire. Alarm was on the phone the whole time with the caller advising they couldn’t get out," Beatty said.

Shortly after Beatty's arrival, multiple units including Engine 23, Engine 42, Engine 29, Engine 3, Ladder 23 and Tower 3 arrived at the scene. Despite their initial attempts to enter through the front door being thwarted by obstructions, firefighters managed to maintain constant communication with Sibray who relayed that they were near a window.

"From the dispatcher, they gave us all that information and Engine 23 started breaching one of the windows to the right," stated Captain Matt Clark from Engine 29.

However, upon breaching one window filled with heavy smoke and visible fire, Sibray quickly informed them it was not the correct window. Acting swiftly on this new information, Clark directed his team towards another window.

Using a thermal imaging camera to scan through smoke and monitor fire spread - an essential tool for planning an attack strategy - Clark's crew prepared for rescue operations. Meanwhile other firefighters entered to combat the blaze within.

Firefighter Jimmy Mengel from Clark’s crew shared their plan saying, “We were expecting to do water supply. When Engine 42 showed up on the other side closer to the hydrant, we knew that we were going to be more of a rescue mode.”

With the arrival of Engine 3, Beatty assigned them to join the rescue crew. “When you hear two people are trapped, it raises the stakes," said Firefighter Matthew Bosnick from Engine 3.

Once the second window was open, Clark called out and heard a response from an elderly woman inside the smoke-filled home. Mengel then entered through the window and found both victims sitting on a couch under a blanket.

Firefighter Tanner Mullis from Engine 3 also entered through the window to assist with the rescue. “I didn't realize she was sitting right there for a second, and then I just picked her up and handed her to Matt (Bosnick),” Mullis said.

Both victims were swiftly evacuated through the window with help from a ladder and additional firefighters waiting outside. They were transported to an area hospital for smoke inhalation treatment and are expected to recover.

Charlotte Fire investigators have determined that the fire originated in the kitchen, but its exact cause remains unclear. It took firefighters 20 minutes to control the fire.

Reflecting on their successful operation, Clark said, “We train for these situations. You feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to do because you’ve trained to do it so many times."

Mullis echoed this sentiment adding, "It was nice to know it helped someone out when they needed it. It wasn’t me though. It was all of us, everybody, it’s a team.”