Two employees at Stockton Unified School District in Stockton, California, are being credited for helping save a family from a burning home.The two spotted a house on fire across the street from an elementary school on Friday."We were on our home visit ... so we were heading down that way and we see smoke, and I'm thinking, 'Oh it's somebody barbequing, something happened or someone's burning paper,' but as we get closer we see smoke coming out of a window and its black smoke," Sally Forgach, a truancy outreach specialist with SUSD recalled. Forgach said she and Markis Scrivens pulled over when they saw two women and a baby stuck in their yard."They can't get out ... They had a rod iron gate and the gate's not opening. It's locked and they don't have the keys to unlock the gate," Forgach told sister station KCRA.The two helped hand the baby over the fence. But they had to convince the grandmother to leave the burning home. Forgach recalled that she told Scrivens he needed other men to help get them out. "Across the street was Harrison Elementary, and I think they were on recess so there were some staff there. He shouted out to them and they came across the street and they were yanking on the gate," Forgach said. "They were pulling on it until finally, they got it off its hinges."She explained there was a language barrier, but that they tried their best to calm the family down. Scrivens ran into the yard and grabbed the mother and convinced the grandmother to leave, she said. No one was seriously injured in the fire. The fire department arrived and put out the fire. It was one of the family's daughter's birthday on Friday when the fire broke out, Forgach said. SUSD gave gift cards and other resources to the family. "It was a community effort, thanking everyone who helped, the firefighters, the staff at Harrison Elementary. It wasn't just one person. It was a community effort," Forgach said. "It's about the community helping each other in a time of crisis."
Two employees at Stockton Unified School District in Stockton, California, are being credited for helping save a family from a burning home.
The two spotted a house on fire across the street from an elementary school on Friday.
"We were on our home visit ... so we were heading down that way and we see smoke, and I'm thinking, 'Oh it's somebody barbequing, something happened or someone's burning paper,' but as we get closer we see smoke coming out of a window and its black smoke," Sally Forgach, a truancy outreach specialist with SUSD recalled.
Forgach said she and Markis Scrivens pulled over when they saw two women and a baby stuck in their yard.
"They can't get out ... They had a rod iron gate and the gate's not opening. It's locked and they don't have the keys to unlock the gate," Forgach told sister station KCRA.
The two helped hand the baby over the fence. But they had to convince the grandmother to leave the burning home.
Forgach recalled that she told Scrivens he needed other men to help get them out.
"Across the street was Harrison Elementary, and I think they were on recess so there were some staff there. He shouted out to them and they came across the street and they were yanking on the gate," Forgach said. "They were pulling on it until finally, they got it off its hinges."
She explained there was a language barrier, but that they tried their best to calm the family down. Scrivens ran into the yard and grabbed the mother and convinced the grandmother to leave, she said.
No one was seriously injured in the fire. The fire department arrived and put out the fire.
This content is imported from Twitter.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
It was one of the family's daughter's birthday on Friday when the fire broke out, Forgach said. SUSD gave gift cards and other resources to the family.
"It was a community effort, thanking everyone who helped, the firefighters, the staff at Harrison Elementary. It wasn't just one person. It was a community effort," Forgach said. "It's about the community helping each other in a time of crisis."
