Woman Attempts Suicide By Lighting Christmas Tree On Fire

[matcom]

<snip>

LEE - A woman who apparently attempted suicide by setting her Christmas tree on fire was rescued Monday by a game warden and forest ranger who broke into her Corbett Road home, grabbed her from her bed and threw her out a first-floor window to safety. Forest Ranger Peter Pelletier and Game Warden Paul Farrington were hailed as heroes for getting the woman out of the bedroom despite their lack of training in house fire rescues.


"The forest ranger and the game warden did a great job. They saved her life," Lee Fire Chief Jay Crocker said. "They are both very knowledgeable people, but it's not their everyday thing."

The rescue was a team effort, Pelletier said.

"He hoisted me up so I could look into the window," Pelletier said Monday. "There was a lot of smoke in the room, but I could still see her lying on the bed. I got to her and I told her, 'Ma'am! Ma'am! Wake up! We need to get out of here!' She was unresponsive, so I shook her until she finally came to and we got her out of there."

The incident began shortly before noon when the woman, apparently distraught over relationship troubles with her live-in boyfriend, set fire to the tree, possibly after firing off a few handgun rounds, and then called 911.

Penobscot Regional Communications Center dispatcher Jennifer Stalter took the call, and dispatcher Erik Dow alerted the Lee Volunteer Fire Department a few minutes before noon, dispatch supervisor Tracey Erickson said.

When the fire chief received the call, he immediately radioed Penobscot Regional Communications Center dispatcher Johannah Nelson and had her call the Maine Forest Service office at 2947 Lee Road, he said.

"I knew they were closer," Crocker said. "We were 10 minutes away. I thought maybe they could be there in three or four minutes."

http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=105411

[Lavender Brown]

1. Oh god

:(

[redqueen]

2. She called 911

I wonder how many attempted suicides do that.