(Memphis) Crews saved a woman inside a burning Bartlett house.
She’s now recovering at the MED’s burn unit.
Firefighters say one of their own also had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.
Tuesday morning, a burned mattress and blanket still sat in in the front of the house on Broadway Ave.
“It was kind of surprising this morning to wake up to all the equipment,” said Sherrie Colville, who lives next door.
Colville says fire trucks, an ambulance and police cars lined her street as the house she’s lived next to for 40 years burned.
A firefighter trudged up the stairs to rescue a woman still in her bed.
Neighbors say Melanie Slaughter is now in the MED with burns all over her face.
The fire marshal says she caused the fire with “careless use of smoking materials,” meaning the woman likely fell asleep smoking in bed.
“It looks like the whole upper story caught fire,” said Colville.
Bartlett’s fire chief says the blaze mostly destroyed the woman’s bedroom, but a firefighter also had to be rushed to the hospital after trying to rescue the woman still inside.
Somehow his mask got knocked off while he was climbing the stairs.
While another rescue worker got Slaughter, the injured firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.
Neighbors say Slaughter lives in the home with her elderly mother, who, ironically, is a widow of a Memphis firefighter. Slaughter’s elderly mother was able to get out of the house safely.
Neighbors say a local church is offering to help the Slaughter family restore their home.