An Arlington family has reunited with the first responders who saved their lives in a house fire that occurred last month.
Weeks after the fire, the family was invited to a ceremony at the Arlington Fire Department Station 9, where they were reunited with the first responders who rescued them.
The Arlington Fire Department responded to reports of a house fire on August 14 in the 6000 block of Farmingdale Drive in southwest Arlington, according to Irving Weekly.
Arlington resident Roatha Chap had come up the stairs of his home in the evening hours to inform his wife, Michelle Chap, that a fire had broken out in their garage, according to NBC 5 DFW. Roatha had gone back downstairs to see if he could put out the fire while his wife retrieved their children. However, soon after, the fire closed off the husband’s way into the home and his family’s way out.
As Roatha tried to break down a door to get back inside, Michelle took action to save her children.
“Smoke just kept coming, and so I got us into my closet because my closet doesn’t have a vent,” said Michelle Chap, according to NBC 5. “I had 911 on the line the whole time and I told them exactly where we were, up the stairs to the right, bathroom’s on the left, in the closet in the back of the bathroom.”
The couple’s 10-year-old daughter Kiri used what she learned in kindergarten to keep her family composed.
“She just kept telling my son to stay calm, you know, stay low, take short breaths. ‘Here Logan, hold this over your mouth,’” Chap recounted, according to NBC 5.
Upon arriving at the home, firemen found the two-story building engulfed in flames and learned that the three family members were still trapped inside. When 911 operators told Chap that they had arrived on the scene, she instructed her children to pound on the walls of the closet so firefighters could follow the sound to find them.
Chap blacked out before first responders found her and the children. Firefighters were able to subdue the flames, enter the building, and rescue the trio, who were then transferred to a hospital to be stabilized.
Chap woke up to find that her family had been saved. They have since been staying with other family members.
Deputy Chief Jon Padilla said at the event that the firefighters admire the family just as much as the family admires them.
“Tonight is special because we get to see them, we get to see them as they should be which is the most precious thing that we have,” said Padilla, according to NBC 5.
“They are alive and well today, not just from the efforts of well trained professional and prepared responders, but also fire safety & education programs, and the actions of a quick-thinking mother determined to keep her family alive,” said the department in a social media post. “We are grateful to celebrate this incredible event together.”
Michelle Chap is a teacher at Mansfield ISD and hopes to return to teaching soon.
