On Thursday, January 16th, Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers pulled two women from a burning building in Montrose, Arkansas. Volunteers from the Chainsaw Recovery Unit of Clarksville First Baptist Church were in Montrose helping to cover a roof damaged in the recent storms, and around noon noticed a large amount of smoke coming out of a home two houses down from their location. Volunteers suspected the home was on fire and rushed down the street. A neighbor nearby watching informed the volunteers that they believed two women were inside the house. Two Disaster Relief volunteers then entered the burning house to locate them.

Two elderly women were in the home. Volunteers described the inside of the house as so filled with smoke it was very difficult to see. Initially they had trouble locating anyone. The women had not exited the home because one of them uses a wheelchair but was not in her wheelchair at the time the fire began. The other woman was attempting to help her friend exit when the volunteers arrived. Disaster Relief volunteers were able to extract both women from the home to safety. Volunteers also located a small dog on the back porch, unconscious apparently from smoke inhalation. Volunteers moved the dog away from the fire and were able to revive the puppy using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Arkansas Disaster Relief exists to help people in need. One of the many functions of Disaster Relief is working to repair homes after a disaster has taken place, but today they were able to help in real time as a crisis unfolded.