LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – “My heart dropped when I heard the call; an elderly man trapped inside a burning home,” said La Follette Fire Chief Jimmy Pack.

Just before noon Saturday morning, LFD firefighters quickly arrived at the south La Follette home to find a wood stove and carpet on fire with an elderly man on the floor near the fire.  Pack said, “The man was fighting the fire when he fell possibly breaking his hip.”

The LFD crew battled the fire all the while getting the man and a woman out of the home to safety.  “They did an excellent job in a situation that initially didn’t look good.   It was where all of our training and practice really paid off,” said Pack.

The man was transported to Oak Ridge hospital for smoke inhalation and a possible hip fracture.  The woman, suffering from smoke inhalation, was taken to the La Follette Medical Center.

La Follette Police and the Campbell County EMS also responded to the call.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 03/07/2020-2PM- PHOTO COURTESY OF LFD CAPTAIN EDDIE HATMAKER)