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Paramedics Rescue Sleeping Teen From Burning San Jose Building

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - Paramedics broke into a burning house in San Jose to rescue a sleeping 17-year-old girl Friday morning, a fire department spokesman said.

Just after 9 a.m., a Santa Clara County paramedic and an emergency medical technician were driving west on Branham Lane when they noticed smoke coming from a residence near the intersection with Glenmont Drive, according to San Jose Fire Capt. Anthony Melendrez.

After seeing smoke coming out of a second-story window, paramedic Shawn Ellis and EMT Brian Newton kicked a side door of the house in when no one answered their knocks, Melendrez said.

Ellis then went up to the second story and found a 17-year-old girl asleep in one of the bedrooms and helped her downstairs, Melendrez said.

A nearby bedroom was on fire, but there was no one else in the house, according to Melendrez.

San Jose firefighters arrived at the scene around 9:07 a.m. and had the fire under control around 9:16 a.m., Melendrez said.

The first-alarm blaze was out by 9:30 a.m., having burned primarily in the second story of the home, he said.

The teen was reportedly fine and did not need to be taken to the hospital, Melendrez said.

Four people were displaced by the fire, according to Melendrez.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, he said.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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