The Associated Press
MAQUOKETA, Iowa — A fire chief in eastern Iowa says an off-duty firefighter and a city councilman have saved a man in a wheelchair from a burning home.
Maquoketa Fire Chief Mark Beck says the pair rescued Harvey Untiedt on Sunday after a fire started near his Christmas tree. Beck says firefighter Matt Tranel and Councilman Corey Simonson live nearby and went into the house before firefighters arrived.
Beck says smoke in the air reached down to their knees when they entered. The men found Untiedt coughing in the kitchen and helped him outside.
It’s unclear what started the fire.