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Muncie ‘miracle’ fire survivor credits wife for lifesaving 911 call

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — The Muncie couple who survived 38 minutes inside their home, fully engulfed in flames, is out of the hospital and doing well.

The home is destroyed, but Pam and Tom Price are thankful to be alive and without any major injuries.

They were treated for smoke inhalation and heat exposure at the hospital, but did not have any burns.

They were trapped in that home for more than three times longer than firefighters believe humans can survive in a fire.

“It’s wonderful to be alive,” Tom Price said.

Tom recalls the fire two weeks ago that destroyed his home and nearly took his life.

He and his wife were trapped in their second floor bedroom as fire quickly spread.

“I tied some sheets together and we were going to climb out the window, but the window in our bedroom is only about 18 inches wide and it was just too narrow for us to get out of,” he said.

Firefighters were forced to halt rescue efforts because the fire became too dangerous.

That’s when Tom lost consciousness.

“The last thing I remember was asking her to get down on the floor with me,” he said.

Before losing consciousness herself, Pam made a third phone call to 911.

And because dispatchers could hear her breathing during the blaze, firefighters made a second rescue attempt 38 minutes later and saved the pair.

“Thank goodness I married a strong woman who saved my life,” he said, “I mean the firefighters did, the rescue people, the doctors, but if it hadn’t been for the strong woman I married, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Many have called their survival a miracle.

Tom said he’s not usually a spiritual person.

“But something like that certainly makes you reevaluate your standing on faith,” he said, “Something protected us there.”

And he said despite losing his home, he is thankful for this day.

“I’m upright and mobile and I’m able to speak to people and I’ve got my bride of 34 years with me and we’re doing great,” he said. “We’ve lost a little bit of stuff, but we’ve got each other.”

Tom Price is a professor at Ball State University.

He said he is blown away by the community support at the school and in Muncie.

One of his students, who also survived a house fire, set up a crowd funding page for the Price family.