Monday morning around 3:13 am, the moon was shining full and it was clear, but not for long for the Hillsville Virginia Fire Department (HVFD).
The tones went off for a fully involved structure fire at the home of Ricky and Amy Patton, which was up for sale and vacant on Winding Ridge Road in Fancy Gap, Virginia.
Ricky Patton's brother lived next door. His wife woke up, and noticed a lot of light coming through the bedroom window. She thought the sun was a little early in rising, but when she looked out, she saw the house on fire. They then called 911 and alerted the fire department.
When the firemen arrived on the scene, they started entry into the front door of the house. As one of the fireman entered (Chris Hawks), there was a rollback of the fire as it got air, trapping the fireman in a ball of fire. A second fireman teamed with him, and was able to get him out of the fire. He had sustained second degree burns to his arms and first degree to his face. He was transported to the hospital by rescue where he was treated and admitted for burns to eighteen percent of his body.
At the time of this story, the fireman had been transported to Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, N.C., to the burn center.
As always, these men and women are volunteers that put there lives in harms way everytime they go out, but there goal is to help someone in need, so to me they are a brave bunch of people.
The home was a total loss but thank goodness it was empty at the time of the fire.
The HVFD wants to thank everyone who helped on the fire, and we ask everyone to say a special prayer for the fireman that was burned and that he gets back home to his family fast.
