Two women escaped serious injury in a house fire in Kahoka on Thursday afternoon, March 4. The fire was reported about 2:30PM.Kahoka and Clark County firefighters responded to the Nellie Faulkner home at 728 W Exchange in Kahoka. Two women were at home at the time of the blaze.Kahoka Police Officer Shawn Webster pulled Faulkner to safety through a window on the rear of the home. He stood on a firefighter's back to reach her. The other woman was outside the house when emergency personnel arrived."She kept saying 'Don't let me die'," Webster said. "I told her that I wouldn't, and pulled her through the window. Its really scary not knowing if someone will fit through a window. But she came through and landed on top of me."Webster and Faulkner were checked for smoke inhalation by the Clark County Ambulance crew. Faulkner was later transported to the hospital for further treatment.Three other residents of the home were not at home at the time of the fire.When fire crews arrived, the garage was fully engulfed in flames. The only other entrance to the home, the front door, was blocked by couch and file cabinet.When firefighters were finally able to gain access to the house, they discovered another problem.“There was stuff stacked everywhere,” said Kahoka Fire Chief Lary Fountain. “We could not get to the fire.”Fountain said they had to pull the firefighters out of the building for safety reasons. Kahoka Alderman Curtis Mack, who is also a firefighter, said, “Within 15 minutes of Mick (Woods) going in, the refrigerator fell through the floor into the basement.”No cause for the fire was determined, although one of the residents reported that a light fixture in the garage had been smoking earlier. They thought it had been extinguished, and left the house.

Original story

Two women escaped serious injury in a house fire in Kahoka on Thursday afternoon, March 4. The fire was reported about 2:30PM.

Kahoka and Clark County firefighters responded to the Nellie Faulkner home at 728 W Exchange in Kahoka. Two women were at home at the time of the blaze.

Kahoka Police Officer Shawn Webster pulled one woman to safety through a window on the rear of the home. He stood on a firefighter's back to reach her. The other woman was outside the house when emergency personnel arrived.

"She kept saying 'Don't let me die'," Webster said. "I told her that I wouldn't, and pulled her through the window. Its really scary not knowing if someone will fit through a window. But she came through and landed on top of me."

Webster and the woman pulled to safety was checked for smoke inhalation by the Clark County Ambulance crew.