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San Bernardino firefighters rescue bed-bound girl from home
San Bernardino firefighters pulled a bed-bound, special needs woman out the window of her burning home.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A San Bernardino mother is thanking firefighters for saving her daughter, after she was trapped in a fire that cost them their house.
Elizabeth Romero's home went up in flames on Monday. The fire destroyed much of their home. But when firefighters got to the house, Romero's bed-bound, 23-year-old daughter was still trapped inside.
"As we pulled up, a family member said there was a victim trapped inside. We started to push down the hallway," said Capt. Nic Turner. "We couldn't see anything. We could see it fireballing across the top of us, but the smoke was all the way to the floor. We were searching mainly by feel and using our thermal imaging cameras."
Eventually, firefighters felt the girl's bedroom door. The door was closed, keeping the fire at bay, but not the smoke.
"She was calling out, she was screaming," Turner said. "But I found her, I picked her up, and I said, ‘I’ve got you. I'm not going to let you go,'"
But there was a problem. Firefighters couldn't take her out of the house through the hallway.
"If we took her out the hallway where we came in, she would have had smoke inhalation, burns," said Paramedic Jesse Quinceno.
Instead, fire Captain Greg Soria and his crew busted through the bedroom window.
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"When I saw light, when I saw the window and I saw another one of my partners outside, Captain Soria and his team, I knew then it was going to be a really good outcome," said Turner. "And I was elated."
Firefighters were able to pass the girl through the window, where they were able to carry her to safety.
"It's a good feeling when you know the person's still alive," said Soria. "And when he handed her to me, she still had a little bit of muscle tone, she wasn't limp."
Paramedics took her to the hospital. Her family says she may be released soon.
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"That's my little angel," Romero said. "I just want to say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.' … Thank you for saving my daughter's life, and my life."
The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help them recover after the fire. Information on that fundraiser can be found by tapping or clicking here.