Man critical after Fort Worth firefighters pull him from burning boarded-up home
A man was in critical condition Friday after firefighters pulled him from a burning boarded-up home in east Fort Worth, where he was unconscious in a bedroom filling fast with smoke, according to the fire department.
An update on the man’s condition wasn’t immediately available on Saturday.
The call for the fire in the 2800 block of East First Street came in around 4:25 p.m. Friday, Capt. Thad Raven told the Star-Telegram over the phone on Saturday. A couple of trucks arrived at the one-story home within three minutes, he said, and some firefighters began putting out the fire as others went inside to search for any trapped victims. They first went to a bedroom to the left, where they found the man. They pulled him outside.
Firefighters began performing CPR on the man who had suffered smoke inhalation as well as several third-degree burns, Raven said. CareFlite responded to the scene and took him in a helicopter to the burn center of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
The fire department is unsure if the man lived in the home, which was covered in plywood, or what he was doing at the time of the fire.
“Obviously, with smoke and fire, he was unconscious,” Raven said. “We don’t know if he was asleep when the fire came in, or what was the condition.”
The flames had been coming from three rooms on the right side of the home, the side opposite from the man, he said. The whole house was filled with smoke, though.
The department had the fire under control within 30 minutes, Raven said. A total of 15 units and around 45 first responders were involved, according to the fire department.
Photos from the department show firefighters wheeling the man away on a stretcher, toward a helicopter. Another photo shows a man with a camera taking a picture of the small house, with its broken windows and areas of charred black.
The cause of the fire hadn’t been determined as of Saturday.
Investigators are looking into how the fire started, as well as in what capacity the home was being used.
