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Firefighters carried the wife of Omaha hockey legend Motto McLean to safety Saturday night after hearing the 83-year-old woman's cries for help through thick, black smoke.
Dorothy McLean was being treated at Creighton University Medical Center on Sunday after being taken there in critical condition. A hospital spokesman said that no information on her condition was being released.
McLean was alone in her home at 1323 S. 52nd Ave. when the fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. McLean, who uses a walker, told Fire Capt. Jeff Lampe that she couldn't get the front door unlocked and headed to the basement of the one-story house.
Lampe said firefighters kicked in a door on the west side of the house and heard McLean yelling for help.
“We couldn't see her because of the black smoke that came pouring out, but we could hear her,” Lampe said. “She was on the stairwell going down to the basement.”
Lampe said he and firefighters Andy Goodwin and Matt Fadell carried McLean out to paramedics.
McLean was able to tell firefighters that her husband was at a hockey game but that the family dog was still inside. “We found the dog in the bedroom, but we were unable to revive it,” Lampe said.
A malfunctioning electrical outlet is thought to have started the fire by igniting the living room curtains, Lampe said.
Capt. Jim Gentile, a Fire Department spokesman, estimated damage to the house and its contents at $33,000.
Lampe said McLean's rescue was a “textbook” example of a “fully-staffed fire crew” working together.
“There wasn't one hero,” he said. “Everyone from the firefighters on the roof punching holes to get the smoke out, to those handling the attack hoses, to the firefighter at the hydrant performed just as we practice.”
Dorothy McLean is the wife of E.H. “Motto” McLean, who has taught youth hockey in Omaha for more than 50 years. Hitchcock Park's Motto McLean Ice Arena, 5015 S. 45th St., is named in his honor.
Motto McLean began playing pro hockey in 1946 and joined the Omaha Knights the next year. He played for the Knights for four years, then for minor-league teams in Edmonton, Alberta; Vancouver, British Columbia; St. Louis; and other cities. He retired in 1957 and coached in Canada during the 1958-59 season.
Contact the writer:
444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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