Mother, Daughters Rescued In Midtown Tulsa House Fire

Firefighters say quick thinking from citizens helped save a woman and two kids who were trapped inside their burning home. Flames were shooting from the house in the 4300 block of South Braden near Promenade Mall Tuesday afternoon.

The Tulsa Fire Department was sent to the fire shortly after 1 p.m. It took 30 firefighters some time to knock down the flames, but before they could get there, an unlikely hero rescued a mom and her daughters from the fire.

Two blocks away, James and Cristina Hamerick saw a smoke plume in the air. Instead of going to McDonald's, the couple drove to Braden Place.

"I wanted to see if there were people here, if they needed help," James Hamerick said. "I just was at the right place at the right time."

Hamerick and another man stopped and they both ran to the door to kick it in.

Neighbor Meggedo Janowski heard booms. He and his mother rushed outside and learned their neighbors were trapped in a burning home.

"It looked like mom was trying to get to the door and passed out," Good Samaritan James Hamerick said. "So we got her out to the yard, and she told us there were people inside."

Cristina Hamerick: "And then there were two little girls in the back bedroom asleep, and the older one had woke up and saw the smoke and was trying to come out the window when he came around."

James was able to get the girls out of the window safely. While firefighters battled scorching heat and high winds, neighbors were relieved the people inside the home were safe.

"Oh, she had smoke on her, there was a little bit of burn on her face but not bad," said neighbor Jana Janowski.

EMSA spokesperson Kelli Bruer says the mother, who is believed to be in her late 40s or early 50s, was transported in fair condition. The children, who are about 5 and 10, rode along with their mother but were not in need of medical care, Bruer said.

There's no word on the family dog, a dachshund no one has seen since the fire. Firefighters are still trying to determine the cause.