Bluff City school resource officer and students called heroes after saving woman from house fire
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. Feb 22 2022 After a fire broke out at a home just yards away from Bluff City Elementary, one woman says the students and staff of the school saved her life.
Kennedy Meade didn’t notice the flames at her home created from a heat lamp until she heard school resource officer Lacey Arnold trying to get her attention outside.
“I jumped off my work call,” Meade said. “I opened up my bedroom door, and I just saw smoke like it was like full wall smoke.”
Students spotted the smoke just yards away from the playground and then they informed staff who took action.
“Whenever I opened the door that’s when I, you know, went into panic mode,” Meade said.
School resource officer at Bluff City Elementary Lacey Arnold said that Meade was shocked when she opened the door.
“She didn’t know what was going on at the time,” Arnold said. “She quickly wanted to go back in and retrieve her cats, but I couldn’t let her.”
Three cats were rescued from the home on that day but one escaped. Since then, all four cats have been reunited with their loving owner.
Bluff City staff and second graders are being called heroes for getting Meade out right in time.
“If it hadn’t been for them and their quick actions and telling their teachers then it might have not ended the same way for Ms. Meade,” Arnold said. “I don’t want any of the recognition. I think they deserve all of it.”
Despite losing everything, it’s the kindness of Meade’s neighbors that have helped her get by.
“Even the day of, right in the moment, one of the neighbors brought me some shoes because I ran out of the house without shoes,” Meade said. “People I don’t even know have stopped by. It’s just really been eye-opening and surprising to know how many nice people are still in our community.”
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