Hearing impaired man rescued from burning Cypress home
by KHOU.com staff
Malini Basu / KHOU 11 News
July 8, 2014
CYPRESS, Texas – A hearing-impaired man was rescued from a burning house Tuesday in northwest Harris County.
The fire was reported around noon inside a two-story house located at 14402 Lawton Ridge Dr. in Cypress.
James Osteen said he knew he had to act quickly after seeing flames erupt in the home. His 43-year-old son, Steve, who is deaf, was still sleeping upstairs and his12-year-old granddaughter was on the computer.
“When I hollered there is a fire, she grabbed the phone to call 911. She was on the phone with them,” he said.
But Osteen couldn’t wait for firefighters.
“My son was asleep upstairs and he’s deaf so I had to get him out because we couldn’t go upstairs. So I got my ladder,” he said.
Osteen set the ladder up against his window while his granddaughter also risked her own life to save her uncle.
“She tried to go up the stairs to get him,” he said. “Smoke was too much. She came back outside.”
Cy-Fair volunteer firefighters showed up then and rescued Steve through his bedroom window.
“It is awesome. All their training came together today, they made a rescue, they got the people stabilized and off to the hospital. It worked like clockwork,” Cpt. Brian Shirley said.
The fire cause was found to be from discarded smoking materials in the garage.
The victim pulled from the house and one other family member was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with smoke inhalation. A Harris County Fire Marshal Investigator was also transported with minor injuries.
All have since been released from the hospital.
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