{"id":895703,"date":"2026-06-27T04:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/895703\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:48:22","slug":"5-people-trapped-in-phoenix-house-fire-heres-how-crews-rescued-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/895703\/","title":{"rendered":"5 people trapped in Phoenix house fire; here\u2019s how crews rescued them"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 When a trash fire spread to a Maryvale home<\/a> Saturday morning and trapped five people inside, Phoenix firefighters credited their training for getting everyone out alive.<\/p>\n

All five suffered burns and are expected to survive.<\/p>\n

How the fire started<\/p>\n

Investigators said a man was burning trash when flames caught an awning just after 11 a.m. at a home on Holly Street, near McDowell Road and 43rd Avenue<\/a>. The fire then spread to and consumed the home.<\/p>\n

When crews arrived, smoke had filled the house. Firefighters were forced to work in a narrow space along the walls, with limited visibility, as the fire climbed above them. Bars on the windows complicated efforts to ventilate the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had stuff coming in on us,\u201d Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade said. \u201cWe had people with bars on the windows trying to get air.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens before the call<\/p>\n

Phoenix Fire trains crews at a dedicated facility designed to replicate real home conditions \u2014 including a simulated hallway with overhead framing and a room that can be filled with smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is their first introduction to it,\u201d McDade said. \u201cSo we want to make it as real life as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what we do is we want to create a controlled, chaotic situation to simulate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The facility includes rooms that replicate a kitchen and hallways designed to mirror a home\u2019s layout. Crews also train with thermal cameras that allow them to see through smoke in real time.<\/p>\n

The tools that make the difference<\/p>\n

McDade said one of the key tools used during Saturday\u2019s rescue was a handheld thermal detector. The device picks up body heat, allowing crews to locate trapped occupants when visibility is near zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movies, a lot of time, they\u2019re talking to each other. They can see you,\u201d McDade said. \u201c90% of fires I\u2019ve been on, I can\u2019t see that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDade confirmed the thermal detector was used during Saturday\u2019s rescue.<\/p>\n

Firefighters also enter a structure carrying approximately 50 pounds of gear \u2014 including bunker pants, a coat and a helmet \u2014 before going to work.<\/p>\n

A warning for homeowners<\/p>\n

McDade said conditions inside the home made the rescue more difficult. Occupants did not have an evacuation plan and had stored boxes and other items inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately on Saturday \u2014 well, fortunately we did rescue them \u2014 but unfortunately, they had injuries because they didn\u2019t have a plan in place,\u201d McDade said.<\/p>\n

He said the No. 1 home safety recommendation is to identify two ways out of every room.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you\u2019re in your home, if there\u2019s a fire in the kitchen, I\u2019m going out the back door,\u201d McDade said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here<\/a> with a brief description.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTVK\/KPHO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX (AZFamily) \u2014 When a trash fire spread to a Maryvale home Saturday morning and trapped five people…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":895704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,7182,362904,362901,362899,362902,362898,1589,8748,362897,218107,7183,362903,362900,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-895703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-azfamily","tag-fire-evacuation-plan","tag-firefighter-training-facility","tag-firefighters-save-lives","tag-five-rescued","tag-maryvale-fire-rescue","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-fire-department","tag-phoenix-fire-training","tag-phoenix-house-fire","tag-phoenix-news","tag-smoke-filled-home","tag-thermal-camera-rescue","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116820266665394752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}