Two teens rescue 89-year-old woman from burning house
Published: January 16, 2007
Two Anaconda boys rescued an 89-year-old woman after a natural gas explosion started a fire that eventually destroyed her two-story house, officials said.
The boys, Phillip Forster, 13, and Devin Tonkin, 14, were walking in the area Sunday afternoon when they heard a popping noise and shattered glass, Forster said.
They rounded the corner to see that an explosion had blown out windows, punched a hole in the wall and knocked the north side of the house off its foundation. Circling around the house, they saw Marjorie Forsman standing inside amid the smoke and debris.
They urged Forsman to come outside through the back door.
“I called for her a couple of times, and she didn’t answer,” Tonkin said. “She was just standing there.”
The boys went to the back door and pulled her outside. She wanted to go back into the house to get her coat and purse, but the boys wouldn’t let her.
Instead, Tonkin gave her his coat and both boys helped Forsman down the back steps to safety. Someone driving by allowed her to wait inside their car.
“We got her away from the house,” than ran and asked a neighbor to call 911, the boys said.
Forsman’s son, Jim Forsman, said his mother suffered singed hair, but otherwise “seemed all right,” but was shaken and saddened that family history, photos and mementos were lost in the fire.
Fire Chief Steve Jorgensen said fire crews had to let the fire continue burning until the natural gas could be shut off in order to save neighboring houses from damage.
As leaking natural gas burned in the basement, a contractor dug through the frozen ground to the gas line.
“We didn’t want to extinguish the leak, because then you have a raw gas building and there’s a possibility of another explosion,” Jorgensen said. So firefighters worked to keep the house interior cool and contain the flames inside the house.
During the digging, a gas line outside the house was “nicked” causing another rupture, and a shut-off valve was broken.
Law enforcement officers evacuated nearby residences as a precaution.
It took several hours before repairs could be made and firefighters could completely extinguish the fire, Jorgensen said.
Tonkin said he was happy to help Marjorie Forsman escape.
“I feel good about it,” he said.
Theresa Forster said her son was also elated to have helped save the woman’s life.
“He called me at work, and he was so excited,” she said.
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