Ice-Covered Roof Collapses on Firefighter in St. Louis, MO

Recent Mayday training paid off in a big way Thursday morning when a St. Louis firefighter became trapped under debris after a roof collapse. 

“Even though it looks like it’s a little bit of controlled chaos, this operation was absolutely perfect on what happened. Firefighters remained calm, went into a a survivor method. In other words, they were breathing, controlling their breathing to maintain air. It took us a while to get them out and that’s a tough thing to do. I commended every one of them. The training proved its worth right here,” St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis  Jenkerson told reporters at the scene. 

Crews were inside the building amid hoarding conditions when there was a roof collapse that buried a firefighter under about four feet of debris. He called a mayday, and gave his location in the pile, saying he believed he was pinned against a wall.

"He was trapped under a tremendous amount of roofing material, also snow pack and ice," the chief said, adding that it's just one of the hazards of fighting fires. 

It took firefighters about 12 or 13 minutes to remove the debris layer by layer and free their colleague.

 Jenkerson said everything firefighters did on the scene was 'textbook.'

"These guys did an amazing job."

The trapped firefighter and another, who suffered an ankle injury during the rescue, were treated at the scene. Neither was transported.