FFs Discuss Rescue Efforts at MN Fire that Claimed Four Children

St. Paul firefighters talked about the Jan. 3 fire that they responded in which four children have since perished. 

Firefighters were called to the house fire on Arkwright Street at 1:30 a.m. and, as they searched the home, they pulled six children and their mother from the home. Fire officials said the fire was not a large fire.

"I chose to forgo standard practice and I entered the house alone," St. Paul firefighter Jake Ryks said during the press conference, according to Fox9.com.

Ryks, officials said, carried three children from the home. He performed life-saving efforts on one child as he carried them more than a block from the scene.

St Paul firefighter Mason Conlin carried two children from the home.

Investigators said the home had working smoke alarms, but their escape route was cut off by the flames.

"We didn’t have enough stretcher space, so I decided to carry one victim into the hospital," Capt. Rob Watson told the television station "Our total interaction time was nine minutes from the time we arrived on scene to the time we arrived at Regions [Hospital] … it was fairly scary because we [had] a young child in a pretty rough spot."

Officials said three members of the Vang family remain in the hospital. One child and their mother remain unconscious.