Woman dies after off-duty firefighter pulls her from burning home

A 75-year-old woman pulled from a burning Clay County house by an off-duty Kansas City firefighter did not survive her injuries, fire officials said Wednesday.

They did not release her name.

Neighbors had noticed smoke coming from the house in the 10600 block of North Marsh Avenue about 9:30 a.m. and tried to get in but found the doors locked. They called 911.

About that time, off-duty firefighter Ryan Cummings drove by with his wife and noticed the crowd and smoke. He asked if the house was on fire. Members of the crowd said they didn’t know but the doors were locked.

Cummings dashed home to get something to pry open a door. By the time he returned, a door was open.

Though he lacked protective gear, he headed inside to search. The house “wasn’t really hot,” but there was a lot of smoke inside, Cummings said.

After reaching the back door and unlocking it, he saw an elderly woman unconscious in the kitchen. As he slid her toward the front door, a neighbor came inside and helped Cummings get her down some steps.

Cummings’ wife, who is a registered nurse, started resuscitation efforts.

“We got her covered up and tried to take care of her until the ambulance came,” said Cummings, a 14-year department veteran who works at Station 25 in the River Market area.

Neighbors appreciated his efforts.

“We have a lot of great firefighters and police who live in this neighborhood,” said Jennifer Parks, who lives next door to the house where the fire occurred and was pulling out of her driveway Wednesday morning when a neighbor pointed out the smoke.

The fire started in the kitchen and spread smoke throughout the home, said Chief Fire Marshal Floyd Peoples.

Neighbors said the 75-year-old woman lived in the home with her daughter, who was out of town.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Woman dies after off-duty firefighter pulls her from burning home."