Frightening echoes of last week's tragedy in Charleston, a house fire in Savannah sent two firefighters to the hospital, and five others were in danger.
It all happened Monday evening on 33rd Street in Savannah. Before firefighters even arrived on the scene they could see the smoke in the air. "We knew it was going to be bad," said Savannah firefighter Steven Emberton.
Captain Matt Stanley with Savannah Fire said, "They could see the smoke coming from the fire station. The fire was ahead of them before they even got here."
Smoke billowed out of the windows; all three floors were on fire. Firefighters pushed their way through until the fire was out, but then the unexpected happened. A firefighter fell through the floor. "When you have a call like that everyone comes to alert. Everyone of our firefighters were on their feet putting their gear on," said Captain Stanley.
"When you hear it, you just want to run in and grab him," said Emberton.
EMS took the firefighter to the hospital. He is being treated for internal injuries, but this wasn't the only scare. Earlier five firefighters were in danger, when a porch collapsed on them. Emberton was one of the five, "I made it through the threshold of the door. That's when it came down on me."
Luckily no one was hurt, and Captain Stanley says the reason for that is the training these firefighters receive. They knew exactly what to do and pulled out before anyone was trapped.
"Savannah has been lucky we haven't lost a firefighter in a number of years," said Emberton.
While they had close calls today, this is stopping them from doing their job. "These guys are tough and resilient, they will be back on the job before you know it," said Captain Stanley.
Fire investigators say the fire was caused from children playing with fire crackers.
Republished with permission from WTOC11