Charleston Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A toddler was badly burned but is still alive after being trapped inside a burning home in Rand.

The fire broke out at about 5 a.m. today at 5829 Midland Drive, Metro 911 dispatchers said.

Fire officials said a volunteer firefighter who arrived early on the scene ran up to the second floor of the home and rescued the little girl.

"He jumped off the truck, grabbed an air pack and a flashlight from a deputy and found the child," said Dustin Parsons, a volunteer firefighter from Malden.

Rand Volunteer Fire Chief Bill White said the girl was found lying on a bed in a smoke-filled room, "badly burned, but still breathing."

She was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center's General Hospital but was later flown to a burn center in Cincinnati, White said.

White had initially identified the victim as a 2-year-old boy. He had said it was difficult for emergency responders on the scene to determine the child's condition because it was very dark out at the time.

The toddler's name was not available, but White identified her parents as Gary and Joyce McNeeley.

He said the parents and their older daughter, Colleen, 9, also were in the house when the blaze began, but they all escaped without injuries.

White said officials think the fire began in the upstairs room where the child was found. The blaze was contained to that one room, he said.

U.S. 60 was closed for more than two hours while Rand and Malden Volunteer departments battled the fire.

White said the scene was cleared about 7:30 a.m., but the investigation would continue throughout the day.

Copyright 2007 Charleston Newspapers