Two people escape early morning fire

UPDATE: 9:15 p.m.

The fire started around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday by a woman smoking a cigarette while on oxygen inside her home.

Police got to the home and found a man standing outside saying his fiancee was still inside. Three officers ran into the house and got her out. Firefighters arrived and were able to contain the fire to the back bedroom. The police officers who saved the woman’s life are being hailed as heroes.

“Basically, had they not got there and got in and got her out, she would not have survived that fire,” Captain Royce Clements with the Idaho Falls Police Department, said. “And so, I mean, it’s clearly they were able to save this woman’s life.”

The woman had some minor injuries but is expected to be okay.

ORIGINAL STORY

Two people escaped a fire on the 400 block of 12th Street at around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

One man had escaped the home uninjured with Idaho Falls firemen arrived. Three Idaho Falls police officers were escorting a woman from the home. An additional search of the home found no other occupants.

“We greatly appreciate the officers from the Idaho Falls Police Department who quickly arrived on scene and began assisting the occupant out of the home safely,” said Idaho Falls Fire Department Chief Dave Hanneman.

Firefighters said the fire originated in a back bedroom where the occupant was smoking a cigarette while wearing oxygen. The fire was contained to a back bedroom, but heat and smoke damaged the entire home.

Damages were estimated at $50,000.