Arrival video: Police & firefighters attempt to save elderly couple at Mokena, IL house fire
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Arrival video from Todd Sherman of Network Video Productions taken during a double fatal fire around 3:20 Wednesday morning on Magnolia Avenue in Mokena, Illinois.
An elderly couple died in an early morning house fire in Mokena, Ill. Erwin and Arline Pauls, 81 and 80 years old, respectively, had lived in the home for at least 25 years, neighbors said.
Assistant Fire Chief Bob Wilson said emergency crews responded to a 3:30 a.m. call that a person may be trapped inside the burning home in the 9400-block of Magnolia Avenue on Wednesday.
More than 40 firefighters from eight departments responded to the scene, and when they arrived, the house was already fully engulfed in flames, and a neighbor and a Mokena police officer were outside.
The officer had tried to get inside to help the residents of the home, but was beaten back by heavy flames and smoke.
“Crews were told that there was possibly victims trapped. Without the protection of a hose line, they went in, attempted a quick rescue. They found one victim in the hallway, removed that victim, went back in, and found a second victim in the back bedroom,” Frankfort Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Bob Wilson said.
