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ATWOOD - A Wallace Road resident was injured escaping a house fire Friday morning near Atwood.
Rachel Neace, no age available, of 6109 Wallace Road, suffered a possible heart problem and a possible broken rib in the 9 a.m. fire. She was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw, for treatment. No information regarding her medical treatment was available.
Fire officials said Neace and her fiance, Patrick England, were asleep in an upstairs bedroom when the fire began. The couple was awakened by smoke detectors sounding from downstairs and had enough time to get dressed and climb out the bedroom window onto the garage roof before the flames followed them out, according to Mike Wilson, fire inspector with the Warsaw Fire Department.
"Smoke detectors definitely saved them," Wilson said.
After getting out of the house, the two climbed down a ladder from the garage roof and went to a neighbor's house to call for help. However, nobody was home.
Atwood Fire Department was dispatched to the home after a 911 call was received from a passerby.
Etna Green Fire Department provided a full assist to the Atwood crew, Leesburg and Mentone fire department tankers were used and Warsaw Fire Department sent a tanker and man power.
Squad 70, the county's fire investigation team, and the WFD are assisting in determining a cause for the fire. Wilson said it appears the fire started in a utility room and rapidly spread to the upstairs through an open stairwell.
The home is owned by Emerson Poort and leased to Lisa England, Patrick's mother.
