UPDATE: Elderly Couple Escapes House Fire With Help From Neighbors

4:55 p.m. Monday evening. However, the couple escaped without injuries with the help of three neighbors.

According to Fire Chief Wayne Kewitsch, three City of Richfield employees, David Schrick and his sons, Brad Schrick and Sam Schrick, assisted the elderly couple from the home while the second floor was heavily involved in fire.

"The Schricks are neighbors of the family, smelled smoke, investigated and discovered smoke coming from the [second] floor of their neighbor's home," Kewitsch told Patch. "David yelled for his mother call 911 while Brad and Sam hopped the fence and entered the home knowing that an elderly couple and their son lived in the residence."

Fortunately, the son was not home at the time and the Schricks were able to get the couple out, along with the woman's wheelchair. A charred mattress and debris littered the yard and driveway beneath a scorched second-story window, with neighbors standing around in awe.

Kewitsch said when the first Richfield Fire units arrived they could see strong smoke venting from the second story.

"A line was pulled for an aggressive interior attack," he said. "And firefighters had the bulk of the fire extinguished within 10 minutes."

Kewitsch also said the second floor suffered extensive damage from fire and the remainder of the house had extensive water damage. Richfield also received help from Bloomington Fire, Minneapolis Airport Commission Fire, Minneapolis Fire and HCMC EMS. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.