Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408210072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ransome, his mother, Shirley, and their friend Melissa Hunley were still awake when they saw the smoke at 1648 Eastern Ave. N.E. about 1:30 Saturday morning.
"I was on the phone talking with my girl, when my mom came in and told me to hang up so she could call 911," Ransome, 16, said.
He and Hunley ran to the burning two-story brick duplex and could hear screaming inside.
Ransome kicked in a panel of the door and reached in to unlock it. "All I could see was fire, but no people," he said.
So they ran to the back door, kicked it in and helped Brenda Russell and one of her sons outside.
They could hear more screams from the upstairs, where another son and the baby sitter were trapped, so they ran to get a chair and a crate from Ransome's house.
"I put the crate on top of the chair, and I was just about to climb up when the window blew," he said.
Just then, the Roanoke Fire Department arrived. Firefighters were able to reach the woman and Russell's other son.
Capt. Rick Trout said the fire probably was sparked by a short circuit in the television or VCR in the downstairs living room.
Brenda Russell, the baby sitter and the children were taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. A nursing supervisor said Russell suffered severe smoke inhalation and was in serious condition Saturday night.
Russell's sister, who came Saturday to help with the children, told Shirley Ransome that the boys and the sitter were less severely injured. Their names have not been released.
The Ransomes said they've known Russell and her boys, who are about 4 and 5 years old, since they moved in about a year ago.
James Ransome said late Saturday that his chest still hurt a little from inhaling smoke. But, "I'd do it again . . . definitely," he said of his rescue efforts.
by CNB