Two women pulled from house fire in Cahokia

Two women were pulled from a house fire Wednesday morning at 901 St. Patrick Blvd. in Cahokia.

Witnesses at the scene said they saw the two women and a cat pulled from a window of the one-story home and said the women were alive. A second cat that lived in the house was not accounted for.

Next-door neighbor Ernestine Little said the two women were both elderly and coughing as they were pulled out of a broken window. Little said they could not have gone through a door because of the fire had fully-engulfed the doorways.

“Too much fire,” Little said.

Little said she smelled smoke around 9 a.m. Wednesday and called the Cahokia Fire Department, which she said took a half hour to respond.

At about that time, Belleville resident Edward Johnson was driving by the house when he spotted the blaze. He said he stopped, got out of his car and broke windows in the engulfed house to help the women escape. He also said the fire department took a half hour to arrive.

Fire department leaders could not be immediately reached.

Cahokia Police said the condition of the women is unknown at this time. A MedStar ambulance was at the scene to transport the women to a hospital.

Firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

Return to BND.com for more on this developing story.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Two women pulled from house fire in Cahokia."