2 firefighters hailed for 'incredible bravery' in rescue of injured girl from Graham house fire

GRAHAM, Wash. – An 11-year-old girl was rescued from a house fire in Graham Friday morning, but she was taken to the hospital in critical condition, Pierce County Fire said.

Firefighters responded to the home in the 4300 block of 293rd St. Ct at 10:40 a.m.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department credited an "incredible display of bravery" by two South Pierce firefighters in rescuing the girl.

"When deputies arrived on scene, they contacted two South Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters who had rescued a child from inside the burning home minutes earlier. The two firefighters told the deputies that when they got to the home it was fully engulfed in flames and an elderly woman was on the porch screaming that her 11-year-old disabled granddaughter was still inside a bedroom," the sheriff's department said.

"The two firefighters climbed through a window into the girl's smoke-filled bedroom, and searched on their hands and knees until they found her; they reportedly could not see their exit route and were only able to pull the victim back to the window by following the sound of the grandmother's screams.

"The firefighters were able to pull the girl out of the window and away from the house; they performed CPR on the critically injured victim until additional paramedics arrived and transported the girl and her grandmother to a nearby hospital. The child has since been flown to Harborview and is in critical condition," the sheriff's department said.

Fire marshals are working to determine the cause of the fire.