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MARVIN RAINWATER's
DAUGHTER, BARBIE
IS A SAVIOR,
AND HER BOYFRIEND, RICK TOLAN IS A HERO!!! |
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Coon Rapids couple saves woman from fire!!
By Terry Collins
of
the Star Tribune
A Coon
Rapids fire official said Wednesday that a couple's quick thinking
during an early morning apartment fire was nothing short of heroic. "I
have no doubt they saved a woman's life," Fire Marshal John Piper said
about the actions of Rick Tolan and Barbara Rainwater. "I can easily
say had they not found her, she would've succumbed to the fire, no
question about it."
Tolan, 31,
was outside working on his boat around 1 a.m. when he smelled smoke
coming from a first-floor townhouse on the 11400 block of Dogwood St.
NW. in Coon Rapids. He ran and told his girlfriend, Rainwater, to call
911. Together, they raced to the burning townhouse and heard Catherine
Clark, 55, moaning inside for help.
"We broke
a bedroom window, but it was too hot to get in," Rainwater, 36, said.
"So we grabbed a bench and rammed it about three times into the sliding
patio window before it broke." Once inside, the couple held hands and
called for Clark, who grabbed Rainwater's leg. They helped her out, and
firefighters arrived less than a minute later. Clark was listed in
serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis late
Wednesday.
"I'd like
to think if I was in that situation, somebody would come in and help
out," Rainwater said. "In those situations, you don't think, you react."
Piper said
that although the fire apparently started in a bed, its cause remains
undetermined. He praised the couple, but offered a warning. "We commend
their efforts," Piper said. "However, we strongly recommend that the
best thing they can do in those situations is call 911 and stay out of
burning buildings."
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| © 2006 Marvin Rainwater |