Injured DC Firefighter Talks About Brush With Death

Firefighter Charlie Shyab is counting his blessings. Almost two weeks after being released from the hospital recovering from injuries he sustained in a devastating fire October 29th, Shyab spoke publicly for the first time.

At an informal press conference at Engine 4, Shyab described his injuries as "the worst pain I've ever had". But he told reporters that he was confident his and his crewmates??? response to the fire was appropriate. He described entering an exposure building in the 600 block of 4th Street, Northeast and checking the first floor for fire. Finding no flames, Sgt. Mike LaCore then led his team to the second floor, where it was obvious a room was on fire. Shyab recounted flowing water and extinguishing that fire - then "everything started getting hot."

Peering out a second floor window, Shyab says he saw flames coming from the first floor - and coming up the stairs. Then - he realized - the fire was under them, and they were trapped.

Firefighters Kenneth Humphries and Douglas Donnelly (who received minor injuries) were already in the hallway and alerted Sgt. LaCore and Shyab that the fire was spreading.

"It's not like we had a discussion about our situation," said Shyab. "We knew we were in trouble, and we just reacted."

Sgt. LaCore transmitted a "mayday" message. Shyab recounted diving down the stairway, through the fire and then being assisted out of the building.

"It was as if someone dipped my arms and legs in boiling water," said Shyab. "But I knew the other guys were hurt, too, and I was concerned for them."

Shyab was hospitalized for 15 days with second degree burns to approximately 30 percent of his body. Firefighters Humphries and Donnelly were hospitalized for two days and remain in treatment. The most seriously injured, Sgt. LaCore, received second and third degree burns to more than 50 percent of his body. He remains hospitalized at the Washington Hospital Center in stable - but improving - condition.

"I hung out with him some today," said Shyab. "He's getting better every day."

The cause of the fire has been determined to be accidental, the result of a renovation project that was being conducted on one of the rowhouses. Oily rags that were being stored in a container on the back porch self-combusted, and the fire spread to the porches and, eventually, the interior of the homes. Several propane tanks were present, and it is investigators' determination that the fire was able to gain such force because at least one of the tanks exploded, increasing the volume and intensity of the fire that destroyed three houses.

"We all know it could have been much worse," said Shyab. Asked if this experience has altered his determination to come back to work for DCFD, Shyab responded, "absolutely not. This is the profession I chose, and, if anything, it has made me more determined to get back to work."