Two Fort Worth firefighters were slightly hurt early Wednesday when they were briefly pinned beneath a collapsed awning at a two-alarm blaze in west Fort Worth.
The fire was reported shortly after 4 a.m. at Hydro-Expo, 2929 Alta Mere Drive, said Engineer Tim Hardeman, fire department spokesman. The business sells supplies for hydroponic gardening.
Eighteen units responded and saw flames on the roof of the building, Hardeman said.
As they starting their attack, Lt. David Childs went with firefighters Rob Reeves and Al Alfaro to the front of the business to assess the fire's path, Hardeman said.
The three men were standing beneath a wood-frame canopy when they heard a loud pop.
"The overhang collapsed," Hardeman said.
Alfaro was knocked out of the way, but Childs and Reeves were trapped beneath the fallen debris, Hardeman said.
"Lt. Childs heard on the radio about a firefighter who was hurt," Hardeman said, "and he didn't know they were talking about him."
Childs and Reeves climbed out of the debris a few minutes later.
"They were treated at the scene," Hardeman said. "Their injuries were minor -- bumps and bruises.
"I stopped by the station and visited with them and they were starting to feel it; they were a little sore."
Hardeman noted that the injured firefighters were part of a crew that responded 10:24 p.m. Tuesday to a fire at a strip shopping center, 8020 Camp Bowie West.
Flames, however, were confined to Mini Dental Implant Centers of America on the far east end of the building.
The five other businesses in the center were not damaged, and no one was hurt while fighting the blaze, Hardeman said.
Investigators Wednesday morning were still trying to determine what caused both fires, Hardeman said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
