DECATUR, Ala. --
A Decatur firefighter, just a few shifts from retirement at the end of the month, got a call to a house fire -- his own.
Troy Pittman, a veteran with Decatur Fire and Rescue at Station 8, was off duty and away from the house when dispatch called him yesterday morning. He arrived to stand with his wife and children to watch as the fire raced through his home in the Punkin Center community.
Firefighters managed to retrieve some family photographs but said the house will be a total loss. No one was home when the blaze broke out, and how it started has not been determined.
Firefighters who arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and found flames shooting out the roof. They were able to bring it under control about an hour later.
Because it was Pittman's house, fellow firefighters said they will help him rebuild.
