HOUSTON – A father is thankful his son is alive after being injured in a house fire Tuesday morning.
“When I picked him, I thought he was dead,” father Angel Ruiz said.
Ruiz struggled to contain his emotions while recounting the heart-stopping moments after he realized his family’s home was on fire.
The fire started around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Ruiz said the smell of something burning woke him up out of his sleep.
“When I saw smoke in the living room it was coming from the attic, so I’m thinking maybe there’s a fire in the attic,” Ruiz said.
He said he then went to check on his son Ty who was still sound asleep in his crib.
“By the time I opened the door, it was just nothing but black smoke that came out. He was inhaling it,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said he then woke his wife and daughter up and made sure they escaped safely before hurrying to save his son.
“By the time I got out, when I picked him up, he was unconscious. I didn’t care what happened to me as long as he got out. That’s really what I was thinking,” Ruiz said.
The Houston Fire Department received a call for cardiac arrest. When firefighters arrived, the family was outside and a neighbor was performing CPR on the toddler. “
Lucky for us, she actually came and helped us a lot,” Ruiz said.
Arson is investigating the cause of the fire. At last check, the toddler was in the ICU.
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