Parker County family of 8 hospitalized after being pulled from burning home

WEATHERFORD, Texas - Parker County sheriff's deputies and neighbors rescued a couple and four of their young children from a burning mobile home Thursday morning after two family members got out safely and ran for help.

The parents and their six children, from ages 13 to 6 weeks old, all went to the hospital. Neighbors helped save lives until more help could arrive.

The home in the 200 block of Kalinga Drive, which is between Azle and Springtown, caught on fire around 3 a.m.

Parker County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Tharp was first on the scene. With his body cam rolling, he could see the inferno through the windshield. A neighbor was already on with 911.

Firefighters say two girls, about 10 and 13, made it out on their own. Four children and their parents were trapped in a back bedroom, the only part of the house that wasn’t burning.

Two neighbors were at the bedroom window when the deputy arrived. They had already rescued a 6-week-old baby boy. The mother was overcome with smoke.

The body cam video shows the flames spreading into the bedroom as firefighters went inside. Seconds later, smoke filled the room and poured out the window.

Firefighters say the father and two of the children, about 4 and 2 years old, went to the Parkland Burn Unit in Dallas. Neighbors cared for the infant until he went to the hospital.

“He was covered in soot,” said neighbor Billy Ellis. “His little hair was singed and his diaper was as black as a tire.”

Firefighters say closing the door to the bedroom was critical.

“The door and the sheetrock wall protected them from the fire,” said Parker County Fire Chief Stephen Watson. “It gave them time for people to get there to rescue them.”

The last report from fire officials is that two of the children are in critical condition.

Neighbors say the family did not have insurance and they are pulling together to help any way they can.