A Houston firefighter was pinned between an apparatus and a district chief's vehicle during a three-alarm apartment blaze that also injured another firefighter Monday.
Crews responded to the fire near Hobby Airport just before 6 p.m., KPRC-TV reports. Flames destroyed three burned through three units, and at least 70 units were without power.
During the response, a firefighter was retrieving an air pack from the back of a district chief's SUV when noticed an apparatus moving toward him. Initially, he thought the driver was moving to a better position, but the rig wasn't stopping.
When the firefighter became pinned between the apparatus and the SUV, he yelled out, and other firefighters ran to where he was. They then were able to move the SUV forward to free the firefighter, but the apparatus was still moving.
"The parking brake either was not engaged or there may have been system failure," Assistant Fire Chief Michael Mire told KPRC. "That's something that we're going to have to look into."
Two mayday calls also went out when crews became separated during the fire. Another firefighter was injured, but it was not clear if the injury occurred during one of the maydays, and no details were given concerning the extent of the injuries, according to KPRC.
“There is an extreme level of focus that stimulated once the firefighters hear a mayday,” Mire told the TV station. “Our primary focus at that point is to keep the fire at bay, so we can control the incident and rescue our firefighter.”
