Woman, baby rescued from burning home

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Officials said an overloaded electrical socket caused the fire that sent four people, including a baby and a 73-year-old woman, to the hospital Tuesday morning.

The fire started just before 2 a.m. on Jeanne Street  in the Pembroke Manor neighborhood of Virginia Beach. Ten people live in the home, according to emergency workers.

"It was very scary," said Yolanda Sykes who lives in the house.  "I grabbed my nephew and ran down the steps."

Sykes' mother Peggy climbed through a second floor window to save family members who could not get out.  "So she was passing them out the window," said Sykes.

But a 16-month-old infant girl was still trapped inside with a 73-year-old woman. Firefighters were their only hope for survival.

Captain Billy Reynolds said when his crew pulled up there were several people outside screaming that there were people still trapped inside.  "She was just saying, 'My baby is in there!  My baby's inside!"

Captain Reynolds and Firefighter Hope Scott climbed through that second floor window. "Imagine closing your eyes and not being able to see anything, that's what it was like inside the entire time," said Reynolds.

Scott added, "You can't even see your hand in front of your face."  Reynolds said, "Plus you are hearing the roar of the fire below you and the heat of the fire coming up through the floor."

Scott said, "I just got on the floor and started crawling.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.  We keep a hand on the wall so we stay on that wall the whole time so if something happens we know how to get back. Finally I heard what sounded like heavy breathing.  So I started feeling around and felt the baby's arm and just scooped the baby up at that point and headed back towards the window.

Captain Reynolds, still in the pitch-black, smoke-filled room with Scott said, "She says, 'I found him. I found him, found him."

Scott said, "My captain climbed out the window and I handed him the baby and he started down the ladder and handed the baby to somebody else."

Captain Reynolds said, "The baby was kind of lifeless, almost like having a baby doll under your arms."

Meanwhile, two other firefighters found the 73-year-old woman lying still on the stairs.

"She was just lying there, her eyes were open," said Captain Richard Grosse. "We scooped her up. I got up above her and got under her arms and [another firefighter] got under her legs and we took her outside."

The woman and the infant are both in the hospital in serious condition. They are both expected to recover.

"I really appreciate what those firefighters did because it could have been worse than it was," said family member Barry Elliott.

Investigators said the fire was accidental, caused by an over-loaded extension cord.