MILWAUKEE --
Milwaukee firefighters who had a brush with death while battling an apartment fire Friday night talked with 12 News about escaping from a potentially fatal flashover.
An off-duty West Allis firefighter was able to capture two firefighters falling from a second-story window with his iPhone's camera.
Firefighters Chris Schutte, John Kokalj and Jason Rodriguez said they immediately went inside the smoke-filled and burning building because people told them there were children trapped inside.
"There were people screaming, 'There's kids in there,' " Schutte said.
"Two police officers said that there were two children trapped in the attic," Kokalj said.
Schutte and Kokalj said they got separated from Rodriguez as they went to the attic to look for the children, but they didn't find any.
"I still couldn't see anything, but I could hear the snap, crackle and pop of the fire," Schutte said.
The smoke and heat quickly grew in intensity, and Kokalj said there was a flashover when he opened the attic door.
"A flashover (happens) when there's a lot of intense heat, and everything ignites at once. That's when I personally got burned," Kokalj said.
Kokalj suffered second-degree burns to his arms, chest and back. This is the fifth time Kokalj has been burned fighting fires, but he said he's never been burned this badly.
"I was like a big ball of flame, basically. It was pretty intense," Kokalj said.
With the fire roaring at their backs, the two firefighters said they tried to find an alternative escape route.
Schutte said he found a front window and shoved Kokalj toward it.
"I didn't know there was a window next to me for him to go down. I thought he was burning behind me, so I just fell out so he could come out the same window, and he wouldn't be burned," Kokalj said.
"I was burning, and I couldn't take it. So I just jumped right out," Schutte said.
Although they were burned and injured, Kokalj and Schutte got out alive. But they said they were more worried about Rodriguez.
"There was a period there where we did not know that Jason was okay. And we thought he was dead," Schutte said.
Fortunately, Rodriguez said he had escaped out of the other side of the building.
Schutte and Kokalj were treated for second-degree burns at St. Mary's Hospital and released after three days.
In pain from his burns but still able to laugh, Kokalj said he can't wait to get back to fighting fires.
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