Patient, caregiver rescued after home catches fire in Lancaster, SC

LANCASTER, S.C. (WBTV) – A bedridden patient and his caregiver were rescued after they became trapped by a house fire in Lancaster on Thursday, officials said.

First responders got the call for the fire on Bethel Boat Landing Road around 12 p.m., according to information from Lancaster County.

The occupants of the home included the bariatric patient and his caregiver. Two volunteer firefighters spoke with the caregiver through a window and told her how to quickly seal the room off from smoke, officials said.

First responders said the window was too small to take the bedridden patient through. A team started ventilating the home to clear some of the smoke, while another firefighter got inside through the window and shared his breathing apparatus with the man until the fire was contained and the smoke had cleared, a news release stated.

Lancaster County Fire Rescue Director Darren Player said there was a high probability one or both of the occupants would not have survived the fire if the flames had not been doused so quickly.

According to Player, both the patient and the caregiver were taken to the hospital and are in “relatively good shape.”

“Every individual on that scene – firefighters, Sheriff’s deputies, EMS paramedics and EMTs – had one goal in mind and that was to safely rescue the occupants. And that goal, because of all their hard work and coordinated efforts, was achieved,” Player said in a statement.

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