Three children and their mother were seriously injured in an apartment fire Wednesday afternoon in Cannon Falls.
Police and firefighters responded just before 1:15 p.m. to the 1200 block of First Street North to a report of a fire at an apartment complex with children trapped inside and visible flames emanating from the unit, according to a news release from Cannon Falls Police Chief Jeff McCormick.
When police and ambulance workers arrived, the mother was outside and said her children were still inside. She had cut her arm trying to rescue them, the release states. The apartment's bedroom was fully engulfed in fire.
McCormick, one of the first responders along with ambulance crews, said he broke out the windows with a fire extinguisher, allowing smoke to billow out and to help search for the kids. They eventually found two children in the living room, and McCormick and the ambulance workers carried them out.
When firefighters began trying to extinguish the blaze, one said he heard the third child, who was pulled out. McCormick said he was relieved upon finding the third child alive.
"I was so glad we found him and that he was breathing; that was a good sign," he told reporters at a news conference posted by Fox 9.
The three children were taken to a Cannon Falls hospital with critical injuries before being airlifted to a larger hospital, McCormick said. The mother was taken to Regions Hospital, and had "pretty significant" injuries, the chief said.
McCormick said one of the children is a toddler, one is 7 years old, and one appeared to be less than a year old.
