Tainan house fire: Three grandparents and grandson trapped with aunt, 9-year-old grandson calmly calls to help rescue

A fire broke out in a house at Lane 52, Zhonghua Road, Xinying District, Tainan today (11th) at 9 pm. Grandma Zhang and her grandson and granddaughter evacuated on the second floor. Aunt Wu was waiting for rescue on the third floor. Heavy smoke suddenly broke out. Rushing upwards, there was a critical moment. After the firefighters arrived, they went upstairs to search and rescue and encountered a maze. Fortunately, the 9-year-old grandson was calm and kept talking to the rescuers on his mobile phone. The firefighters quickly found four people and sent them to the hospital for preventive treatment due to minor choking injuries.

The first floor of the house where the fire broke out was used for processing fish balls. It was suspected that the kitchen on the first floor was on fire and thick smoke was emitted. The second and third floors were RC buildings covered with iron sheets. The Tainan City Fire Department was notified. Fire engines from the Xinying Fire Department arrived at the scene of the fire six minutes later. The First Disaster Rescue Brigade dispatched a total of 22 vehicles and 43 people to rescue the fire.

When firefighters arrived, the owner named Zhang escaped outside the house first and explained the situation inside the house. His mother, nephew, and aunt lived upstairs. Because the rooms and living spaces on the second and third floors were filled with debris and supplies, the situation was critical. Fortunately, the firefighters got in touch with the three grandsons who were taking shelter in the room on the second floor. The firefighters talked to the grandson on their mobile phones and instructed them to close the door tightly and block the cracks in the door with clothes to prevent thick smoke from entering, and then rushed upstairs for search and rescue. Another group of personnel went to put out the fire.

The firefighters first rescued the woman surnamed Wu on the third floor with a symbiosis mask, and successfully found the woman surnamed Zhang, her 11-year-old granddaughter, and her 9-year-old grandson on the second floor. They also used symbiosis masks to rescue the three people downstairs; the fire was extinguished at 9:17 p.m.

The four trapped persons were all conscious and had no external injuries. They were suspected of suffering from minor choking and shortness of breath. They were sent to Liuying Chimei Hospital for treatment. The fire brigade provided timely rescue and the grandson's calm response successfully rescued the four persons.