Woman, 80, Smashes Windows to Escape Fire, Rescue Husband

Woman, husband hospitalized following early-morning Thanksgiving Day fire

An 80-year-old North Texas woman smashed her bedroom window, climbed out and then tried to save her husband after their Fort Worth house filled with smoke on Thanksgiving morning. 

“I seen that smoke coming in on me and I had to get out of there,” said the woman, identified by family as Lula Johnson. “I got out through the help of the Lord.”

Johnson and her 79-year-old husband James Johnson, who suffered burns on his face and body, remain hospitalized. 

The house, located on the 4400 block of Carmel Avenue, filled with smoke at around 10:30 a.m. ET. Johnson saw the smoke and smashed her bedroom window to get outside. She then attempted to help her husband who was trapped inside another room.

“We had a resident who evacuated the building and was breaking a window trying to get to her husband,” said Kyle Clay, with the Fort Worth Fire Department.

Within four minutes of receiving the call, firefighters arrived and took over. They went through the window to rescue James Johnson.

MedStar rushed him to John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition. Family said he was later taken by air ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas to receive care for his burns.

“I’m thankful she is still here and everything,” said Lula Johnson’s daughter, Joyce Smith. “In her right mind and she’s alright."

and James is going to be alright too,” added another a family member.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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