Firefighters save two children from burning house

Biloxi firefighters responding to a house fire on Desoto Street today resuscitated two children who were not breathing when they were removed from a smoke-filled bedroom at the rear of a burning wood-frame house.

Biloxi Fire Chief David Roberts said firefighters received a call at 12:11 p.m. today about a house fire at Desoto, between Porter and Benachi avenues, a couple blocks off the Bay of Biloxi.

The first of nearly two dozen firefighters arrived on the scene four minutes later to find flames shooting from the front of the house.

“When the first firefighters arrived they began battling the fire in the front of the structure,” Roberts said, “and a bystander told them that two children were in a bedroom in the back of the house. A crew went to the back of the house and actually dove through a window of a bedroom. The room was not on fire but was full of smoke.

“The firefighters immediately found one child and then located the other,” the chief said. “Neither was breathing, but firefighters immediately went to work on the scene, administering CPR and oxygen, and they were able to get them breathing again.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Roberts said, adding that one firefighter sustained minor burns on his wrist and neck.

“Frankly, this was a good day for the occupants of this house and for the Biloxi Fire Department,” Robert said. “It’s good when things turn out this well. Usually, we deal with so much loss and death on scenes. But the fact is, the training of these firefighters came into play and that made this a life-saving day.”

See it now: To see photos from the life-saving heroics of Biloxi firefighters,
click here.