Fort Worth Firefighter Caleb Halvorson --seriously burned more than a month ago -- is back home.
Halvorson was trapped under a collapsed garage roof while fighting a fire on South Williams Street.
"I remember, right then… [thinking] I am gonna die. This is it. It feels like forever. You feel your skin burning and you feel this heavy weight on you," he told a CBS reporter Monday.
The burns were deeper than doctors at Parkland Hospital initially believed.
Through the multiple skin grafts and infections, one thing kept him focused on recovery -- his newborn son, who remains in the NICU.
"That's been my main motivation to get out. I haven't seen him in 34 days."
The painful incident was not career-changing either.
"By no means am I done or quitting. As soon as this is healed, I want to go back. I miss my brothers and my girls and boys at work. Deep in my heart, I am a fireman. I love my job. It's the best job in the world."
About the Author
Susan Nicol
News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.