By NATE KING
Salina Post
A quick-thinking Saline County Sheriff's deputy is to thank for rescuing two Saline County residents from a house fire in rural southern Saline County.
Shortly after midnight on July 23, a Saline County Sheriff’s deputy was sent to 1122 E. Bethel Circle to reports of an ongoing house fire.
When the deputy arrived, he immediately saw the occupants of the home, Daniel and Debra Byarlay, both 68, on the roof of their home.
"The couple escaped through an upstairs window because there was a fire down below," Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning.
While Saline County Rural Fire District #2 was on its way, the deputy acted fast to get the couple off the roof. He forced his way into the Byarlay's garage, where he located a ladder.
"The ladder wasn't tall enough to get to the roof, so he used his patrol car to push a disabled vehicle, a pickup in the driveway, underneath the eaves of the house," Soldan said. " He placed the ladder in the bed of the pickup and was able to reach the roof of the house."
The 26-year-old deputy, who has not yet been named, helped move both Daniel and Debra safely off the roof and away from the fire.
The Byarlays were transported to Salina Regional Health Center for treatment of smoke inhalation. Daniel was released, Debra was transferred to Ascension Via Christi.
Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, Sheriff Soldan did say the deputy noticed that electrical power to the home was out at the time of his arrival.
"West Star Energy had been working to restore the power down the road so there could have been a power surge or somehow power related," Soldan said.
Along with over $200,00 in property damage, the Byarlays also lost five dogs, five cats, and a chinchilla.