TEXARKANA, AR (KSLA) -
UPDATE: The Fire Marshal for Texarkana, Arkansas confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the 71-year-old woman rescued from her burning home a week ago died over the weekend.
Betty Brooke, 71 was among five others rescued from the home on Markwood St. by a Texarkana police officer.
Six people were sent to the hospital including a police officer after a Tuesday morning house fire in Texarkana, Arkansas.
Texarkana, Arkansas Fire Marshal Steve Johnson says the fire started around 5:30 a.m. at a home on Markwood Street. Fire investigators say that a candle used as a night light could have been the cause of the fire. "The person sleeping in this room said he had a candle at the foot of his bed as a night light. It appears the fire started in this room," says Johnson.
The sleeping man in the room told investigators he woke after feeling the heat from the fire. Johnson says this is one more example why people need working smoke alarms in their homes. "Smoke detectors are a very essential part of a house. If they would have had a smoke detector in the house they would have been alerted a lot sooner rather than just by the heat," says Johnson.
Johnson says the man did what he could to get the rest of the family out of the burning house. "Whenever he woke up and saw the flames, he traveled to the back of the house to alert the other occupants of the house fire," says Johnson.
Police say 71-year-old Betty Brooke was rescued from the burning house by Texarkana, Arkansas Police Officer Peyton Harris. Harris says the home was engulfed in flames when he arrived and smoke was bellowing out of Brooke's bedroom window. "I ran to the window and tried to call for her and I didn't get a response. I felt around and finally felt her arm," says Harris. "I had to do it two times. I backed up and I said I can't do it. It is too hot. I can't breathe anymore. But I couldn't just sit there and watch her and let her burn like that."
Brooke's family members were injured while escaping the fire and could not help Harris, but neighbor, Richard Kyle helped Harris pull Brooke out of the house. "I couldn't get her over the window seal and finally somebody reached in and grabbed the arm with me and pulled her all the way out," says Harris. "I got a little singe here and a little singe there, but the Arkansas police was right in front of it and he got the brunt of it," says Kyle.
The rescue was caught on Harris' dash cam in his patrol car.
Officer Harris was treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns to the ear and neck. Three of the six people injured in the fire are still in the hospital including Brooke.
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