A veteran University Heights firefighter is being treated at the burn unit of MetroHealth Medical Center after being hurt fighting a house fire on Milton Drive early Saturday.
The injured firefighter, Paul Nees, 58, has been with the University Heights department for about 22 years and a firefighter for more than 30 years, said University Heights fire Capt. Jim Leffler. Nees had second-degree burns to his arms, shoulders and back.
Leffler said the department responded to a call of a house fire with people trapped inside at 1:57 a.m. When firefighters arrived, a woman who lived in the house was climbing down an extension ladder provided by a neighbor from a second-story bedroom. The father and his three children had escaped by climbing out onto a flat roof at the back of the house.
Nees and two of his colleagues then went inside to fight the fire. As the fire grew in intensity, Nees was burned by a "flash over" that knocked him to the floor, Leffler said. Another firefighter helped him outside. A South Euclid rescue squad took Nees to Hillcrest Hospital, where he was taken by helicopter to MetroHealth.
For more on the phenomenon of flashover, try these articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment