LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A fire injured several members of a Lexington family overnight, two of them critically. The fire also destroyed the family's home.
The fire was called in just after midnight at a home along Pierson Drive. Firefighters said when they got there, all eight people in the family were outside. Five people had to go to the hospital. Two of them, one adult and one juvenile, had life-threatening injuries and were sent to specialized facilities.
A man who lives nearby said he saw a teen run into the burning house to pull someone else out. This is a neighborhood where a lot of people have lived here for decades, so it's pretty close-knit. They say their thoughts are with this family.
People who live in the area said they sometimes hear sirens passing through, but this was different.
"You kind of hear them sometimes, but it kept going on and on and on, so I got up and I opened my blinds and I saw all the fire lights, the fire truck lights and I knew there was something going on," said Nancy Moore.
Moore said she watched from her window for a couple of hours.
"I just said the prayers and hoped that everybody was okay," she said.
Firefighters said the incident highlights just how important it is to be sure your smoke detectors are working. They're not sure if this home had them or not. If anyone needs a smoke detector, the fire department has a free distribution program. They also said keeping doors closed also helps keep you safe in the event of an overnight fire.
"Close before you doze. Every door that you put between you and a fire or between anything like that gives you a little bit more compartmentalization and gives you a little more time to escape," said Major Derek Roberts of the Lexington Fire Department.
Fire investigators are looking into what caused the fire.
