Couple rescued from fire describes deputy’s heroic efforts in saving them
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MARION, NC (WLOS ) — A Marion couple said they owe their lives to a McDowell County sheriff’s deputy who responded when their home went up in flames Thursday.
“We owe him our life,” said Scott Geouge, standing next to his wife. Betty.
They were effusive about Deputy Jordon Frisbee.
“I want to thank him because I have my two girls and my husband in my life and I mean, we’ve lost everything that we own, but we have our life,” Betty told News 13.
The electrical fire started in the laundry room at the home on Veterans Drive on Feb. 6, 2020. Within moments, the house was in flames.
So much of the Geouge familys’ precious mementos have been reduced to rubble. Their home is charred in every direction.
“This is it, yeah,” Scott said with a sigh as he walked through what’s left of the structure.
“This was our home,” his wife added.
Their teenage daughter goes to school at Mcdowell Early College. The Early College made arrangements for a rental home the family can move into right away.
Along with their sense of loss, they feel appreciation for the man who came to the rescue.
The Geouges, as well as their 17-year-old and three-year-old daughters, were asleep Thursday morning.
That’s when they heard someone pounding on the front windows.
“And I mean he was beating hard and he was screaming,” Betty said, recalling the commotion. “And I was like, ‘Scott, somebody’s out there,’ and I thought someone was trying to come in the house!”
That turned out to be Deputy Frisbee, the first to respond to the raging fire.
“And the deputy, when my girls come out, he was getting them down through there, he got me,” Betty said. “And I know he got burned too but it’s like he didn’t care.”
The Geouges said Frisbee refused treatment until everyone else was safe. Moments after the deputy rushed them to safety, what they heard was perhaps even more shocking than what they saw.
“A ball of flames,” Scott said, describing the series of booms that followed. “The car exploding, the bike over there exploding, the gases in the tank exploding.”
Sadly, three family pets didn’t make it, including two dogs and a cat. They died of smoke inhalation.
After all they’ve lost, the Geouges cling to everything they can salvage, like the tattered American Flag from the front porch.
Scott rolled up what’s become a symbol of his family’s resilience.
“I mean we’ve got some burns and stuff but we have our life,” Betty said.
Clothing donations for the family can be left at drop off points including:
N.C Probation & Parole Office (Becky Loftis) – 260 State St.
McDowell High School (Kendall Waugh) – 600 McDowell High Dr., BEAR Closet – Cross St.
The Marion Agency Real Estate – 1549 Rutherford Rd.
Clothes sizes in need:
Destiny: 3-4 pants, small shirts, 8-8 1/2 shoes
Betty: 16 pants, XL shirts, 10 1/2 shoes
Scott: 34×34 pants, XL shirts, 12 shoes
Harley: 6T clothes, 8 1/2 toddler shoes
Their oldest daughter also launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money for medical expenses.
You can find the GoFundMe page here: gofundme.com/f/t6z88-help?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
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