December 9, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Firefighters Rescue Elderly Woman with Help from Alert Neighbors

An elderly Shreveport resident was saved this morning by Shreveport firefighters after alert neighbors called the fire department after hearing a smoke alarm going off inside her residence.

Fire communications officers at the Caddo 911 Center received a call reporting a concern for the resident at 3809 Claiborne Avenue after neighbors found the Sunday paper still in the driveway and an alarm going off inside of the home. The call was reported at 8:08 a.m.

When firefighters arrived, they wasted little time entering the home, that was said to be occupied by an elderly woman, by taking out a window air-conditioning unit. Once inside, fire crews encountered heavy layers of thick smoke that stretched from the ceiling to just a few feet off the floor. Firefighters realized that if someone was inside they needed to act quickly before the poisonous, carbon monoxide filled smoke consumed the entire structure. Moments later, rescue crews found 88-year-old Harriet Bowen lying in a doorway between the livingroom and the kitchen. Bowen apparently injured herself in a fall that left her immobile some four hours earlier.

The smoke was discovered to be coming from food left on the stove. Bowen was unable to get up to call for help but because she was laying on the floor the descending smoke had not yet reached her level. Fire officials said that Bowen was fortunate to have neighbors that were concerned enough to check on her. There is little doubt that had more time gone by, Ms. Bowen may have suffered grave consequences as a result of the increasing level of smoke in the home, said Captain J.D. Warren. Adding, "Her neighbors are to be commended . . . they probably saved her life." Bowen was admitted to Willis Knighton Medical Center.

The Shreveport Fire Department urges those with elderly family, friends, and/or neighbors to make regular checks on them during the Fall and Winter months. Statistically these are the most dangerous times for the elderly who are subject to an array of problems such as hypothermia, slip and falls, carbon monoxide poisoning, and fires. ###