JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It took eight Jacksonville firefighters to pull a 500-pound northwest Jacksonville woman from her burning home because she couldn't save herself.
Crews rushed to Josie McCoy's home in the 1300 block of West Union Street late Tuesday night after she called 911 because her kitchen was on fire and she was stuck in her bed.
911 Dispatcher: "Ma'am. Listen to me, please. This is the fire department. What is the address of the emergency?"
Caller: "1315 West Union Street."
911 Dispatcher: "1315 West Union Street. Is that a house or an apartment?"
Caller: "It's a house. I'm an invalid in the bed. I can't get up and run."
911 Dispatcher: "OK, ma'am. What's going on?"
Caller: "It's a fire!"
911 Dispatcher: "OK, ma'am. You don't have to shout. I'm here, OK?"
Caller: "It's a fire in my kitchen!"
911 Dispatcher: "Ma'am, listen to me. I understand that your kitchen is on ..."
Caller: "There's a fire in my kitchen!"
Video: 8 Firefighters Carry Woman On Bed
"You could see the fire just everywhere," said Samuel Hall, who lives near West Union Street. "You could see the smoke just everywhere."
Hall said he watched the heroic rescue that saved McCoy's life.
"These firemen had to be the best there is," he said. "They had to be on their job."
Firefighters said the smoke was extremely heavy and they had to act quickly when they arrived. They knocked out a front window on the porch, and a team of them went inside and lifted the woman up on her bed and pulled her out.
"As soon as they found her, search and rescue said they needed more help, and I ended up calling more rescue up there, and they were able to keep her on her mattress and take her out a window," Fire Chief Neal White said. "She was conscious and talking. She was very concerned and scared like anybody would be from the smoke."