KDRV Staff
 
December 22, 2009
 
MEDFORD, Ore. -Fire investigators say a fire in a S. Medford duplex started near the living room couch.
 
Medford Fire Investigators say there was no working smoke detector in the home when the fire broke out Monday night around 7:00.
 
Witnesses reported flames more than three feet high coming out of the apartment, located in a complex on Columbus Avenue.
 
A young boy says he was home alone when it broke out, and ran to a neighbor's apartment to call 911. He says his 11-year-old sister returned to the apartment and didn't know he had left the home when she saw the flames. She broke the windows to try to get inside and save her brother. When firefighters arrived on the scene they went inside after her, but the girl was already safe. She was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts from breaking the glass.
 
The children's mother was not home at the time of the fire.
 
Fire officials say the cause is under investigation. The fire was extinguished before it reached neighboring apartments.