The St. Paul Pioneer Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — An off-duty St. Paul firefighter and neighbors helped rescue a 17-year-old girl from a fire Tuesday, the St. Paul Fire Department said Wednesday.
When a house fire broke out in the 1000 block of Marshall Avenue, firefighter Vernon Cobb was visiting his mother nearby.
The teen had smelled smoke, opened a second-floor bedroom door and couldn’t escape down the stairs because smoke was quickly filling the hallway, the department said.
The girl and her father escaped from a second-floor window onto the porch roof. The man got down to the ground, but the teen couldn’t. Cobb was assembling neighbors to catch her, if she jumped, when an unknown neighbor arrived with a ladder and the teen was coaxed down.
Chief Tim Butler said he was proud of the neighbors and Cobb.
Firefighters, called to the house about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, quickly extinguished the fire. Damage to the home and its contents was estimated to be $105,000, the department said. The home isn’t habitable.
An overloaded electrical extension cord caused the fire, the department said.
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