Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to rescue a woman and her two small children from a house fire on Monday, October 6. The blaze was reported at about 5 p.m. in the 2600 block of West Vereda Azul.

When deputies arrived, smoke was coming out of the front of the house and neighbors were trying to get inside to rescue the residents. They had been unable to break in due to security bars on all of the doors and windows.

One deputy was able to rescue a one and a half year-old girl by squeezing her through the back sliding glass door. Another deputy rescued the woman and the four year-old boy by using the winch from his patrol vehicle to remove the wrought iron front door.

With this near-tragedy taking place during Fire Prevention Week, the Sheriff’s Department is reminding parents to pick a meeting place outside your home if there is a fire, practice fire drills, equip window security bars with quick-release devices, test your smoke alarm once a month, never go back inside a burning building, and if a fire is discovered, get out of the house immediately, then call the fire department with a portable phone, cell phone, or from a neighbor’s.