A Northland firefighter was seriously injured in a fire at his house Thursday afternoon.
The fire broke out at about 3 p.m. at Northwest 67th Terrace and North Mercier Street.
KMBC's Chris Nagus reported that Sam Santamaria had been working on a car in his garage when the fire started.
"I heard an explosion and ran to the windows ... The smoke was just billowing out," neighbor Ginny Clark said.
Witnesses said Santamaria ran from the garage with fire on his body. He was taken to a local hospital with first- and second-degree burns. The worst injuries are to his hands, officials said.
"He came up the street with no shirt on. You could see all the burns at that point," Clark said.
Neighbors said the fire spread quickly.
"It just went up too fast. The house went from explosion to total destruction in five to seven minutes," Clark said. "The house is a mess, an absolute mess. It's destroyed."
"Anytime one of ours is involved in something tragic like this, it always hits close to home," Battalion Chief Germaine Friends said.
"It's amazing that it would happen to a firefighter -- that's scary," Clark said.
Friends said Santamaria is in pain but is expected to recover.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
E-Mail: Contact Chris Nagus
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