Rushford father saves children from burning home

A house fire in Rushford left six family members with injuries that varied from an ankle wound to severe burns.

The Rushford Fire Department was paged out to a full structure fire Thursday around 12:42 a.m., according to Fire Chief Chad Rasmussen. They arrived on the scene at 1086 Dump Hill Road in Rushford, Minn. to find the home fully engulfed.

The six people inside included children from 3- to 15-years old, a 40-year-old mother, and their 45-year-old father. They were out of the home before law enforcement arrived, according to Houston County Sheriff Mark Inglett. Rasmussen said they were able to escape the fire because of their father.

“The father here is the real hero. Without him running through the fire and getting the children out, this would have been a totally different outcome,” Rasmussen said. “Given less than 30 seconds, this would have been a different deal.”

The father was directly flown to Regions Hospital in St. Paul from the scene. Three girls ages 3, 4, and 7 were transported to Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse and Winona Health Hospital and were later flown to Regions. They are recovering in the burn unit, according to Rassmussen. A 15-year-old male and the adult female were also taken to Gundersen for their injuries.

Rushford State Bank ( 507-864-7755) said there is an account set up for the Jared and Erin Cords family if anyone would like to make a free-will donation. Donations can be mailed to the following address:
Jared Cords & Family
C/O Rushford State Bank
219 S Mill St.
P.O. Box 648
Rushford, MN 55971

Citizens in Rushford also set out buckets for donations during Thursday’s trick-or-treating hours.

The state fire marshal is doing an active investigation into the cause of the fire.

The following Emergency Services responded to the scene: Houston Fire Department, Houston Ambulance, Rushford Fire Department, Rushford Ambulance, Tri-State Ambulance, Gundersen Air Helicopter, Winona Ambulance, Houston County Sheriff Office and Houston Police Department.