A firefighter injured in a porch collapse on Thursday said there was no time to react when the structure started coming down around him and a colleague.
Adam Ostergaard was standing on the porch of a house at 19th and Corby streets with fellow firefighter Mike Arnold when it collapsed under the weight of two firefighters on its roof.
"It was pretty scary -- a pretty scary moment. The scariest since I've been on the fire department," Ostergaard said. "I would say not more than 30 seconds into it, it just collapsed. I mean, boom -- within seconds. No time to react or anything. A split second through my mind I thought I wasn't going to make it through this."
Within seconds, the rest of the crew lifted the roof and the firefighters crawled out with only minor injuries.
"I got a little abrasion on my head. A couple of the embers hit my head, hit my neck, but nothing serious," Ostergaard said. "Very lucky, I would have to say."
Ostergaard said luck prevented a greater disaster. He said he thinks a piece of plywood kept the roof from crushing him.
"This is the closest call I've had so far, so it was a wake-up call for me," he said.
Ostergaard said he'd be back at work on Friday, refreshed and ready to go. He said he plans to use this experience as a lesson.
"Sometimes we get complacent because these things don't happen every day. It just reminds us that we have to be aware on every call," Ostergaard said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Previous Stories:
- August 17, 2006: Porch Collapse Was Close Call For Firefighters
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