Flomaton firemen help to get the two to safety
Yates, right, stands in front of her home with her mother and other family members
A Flomaton mother and her 6-year old daughter are fine today thanks to multiple events early Tuesday morning that ended when Flomaton firemen rescued the two from a second-story exterior deck while the bottom floor was engulfed in flames.
The Flomaton Fire Department received a 911 call from Pamela Yates from her 1071 Twin Bridges Road home about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday that her home was on fire and she and her daughter were trapped. When firemen arrived on the scene, the first task was using a ladder to gets Yates and her daughter to safety.
Ms. Yates said she and her daughter Ella, a first grade student at Flomaton Elementary School, were sleeping in their upstairs bedrooms when her ADT alarm system called her cell phone.
Yates said when she woke up she smelled smoke, woke Ella up and told her daughter they needed to get out of the house.
The two came down the stairs to the first floor but when Yates opened the door at the foot of the steps she said heavy smoke hit her in the face. She shut the door and the two ran back upstairs.
On the second floor was a door that opened to an open deck some 15 or more feet off the ground. She then dialed 911.
She said a neighbor arrived first and tried to keep them calm.
"I thought we were going to have to jump," she said.
The fire department arrived and used the ladder to reach the deck, first bringing Ella down and then Pamela.
"We were blessed," she said. "The firemen were very nice and very helpful."
Yates and Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton said it appears lightning struck the front of the house and caused a fire at or near the hot water heater.
Stanton said he and Police Chief Chance Thompson were the first emergency personnel to arrive on the scene and there was still heavy rain and lightning.
"When the firetruck arrived I told them to get the ladder and go to the back to get them down," Stanton said.
He said Jeremy Lee grabbed the ladder and headed to the deck. Stanton said the bottom floor was fully involved and he pulled the hose and Chief Thompson began battling the fire.
Stanton said the Med 16 ambulance arrived and they placed Pamela and Ella in the back of the ambulance to get them out of the rain.
"It took us about an hour to get the fire under control," Stanton said. "Thank God for mutual aid."
"Chance was off duty but heard the call and came straight there," Stanton said.
Firefighters from Friendship, Lambeth, Century and McDavid also responded.
"We only have volunteers during the nights," Stanton said. "Jeremy (who is Flomaton's paid fireman during the day) responded as a volunteer early that morning.
"It was some of the worst conditions I've seen in fighting a fire with the storm and lightning," Stanton said. "But the important thing is those two are safe. If they had jumped, there's no doubt they would have been hurt."
