A Forest Park firefighter partially fell through the roof of a burning home Tuesday morning as a portion of it caved in.
Crews from Forest Park and Colerain Township respond to the fire at a home in the 2500 block of Sudbury Drive around 8:20 a.m., according to WXIX-TV.
The injured firefighter was part of a crew attempting to ventilate the roof when the collapse occurred.
He began to fall through the roof, but was able to catch himself between two of the trusses.
Other firefighters were able to pull him back up.
Colerain Township Battalion Chief Randy Ellert said that the incident brought back painful memories of a floor collapse that killed firefighters Robin Broxterman and Brian Schira back in 2008.
"We observed them on the roof . . . we were questioning them being up there based on the fire conditions," he told the news station. "As we tried to get through, we got six or seven busy signals and we weren't able to tell them to get off the roof and the gentleman disappeared. It was one of those deals where we watched it and we really couldn't do anything."
The fire was put out in about 20 minutes and damage to the structure is estimated at $50,000 to $60,000.
Officials say the fire began in the chimney of the home and spread to the attic and roof and a preliminary investigation found that the fire may have started because of creosote build-up in the fireplace.
