JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four Jacksonville firefighters are thankful to be out of the hospital the day before Thanksgiving after suffering burns on a call Tuesday afternoon.
The firefighters were injured while fighting a fire that fully engulfed a home on Acorn Street in the city’s New Town neighborhood. The as-yet-unnamed firefighters are on the mend after a brief stay in the hospital.
But the two men who lived in the home that went up in flames have lost nearly everything.
When firefighters first arrived Tuesday, minutes after the first 911 call, they knew they had a challenge ahead.
“It is a very dangerous situation,” Chief Robin Gainey, the incident commander for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, said. He said the fire started in the back room and appeared to have been burning for a while before neighbors noticed when a window blew out.
According to Capt. Eric Prosswimmer, the first to arrive on the scene, the flames were angry, ripping through the house. Neighbors told first responders that two men lived at the home, one of them who was still believed to be inside. Rescuers rushed into the blaze, sustaining burns and blisters in the course of their efforts.
“The heat conditions were extreme to the point that it was brutal on them,” Gainey said. “But they kept pushing forward.”
Fortunately, no one was inside.
“I heard all the firetrucks and I thought they were going somewhere else,” said 71-year-old Charles Jackson, the man they were looking for. He said he had left to run an errand. Jackson and his roommate, Jackie Cogdell, said they are grateful to be okay but all of their belongings were lost in the fire.
“I lost it all,” Cogdell said. “What I’ve got on, that’s it. We’re trying to salvage what we can, but there’s nothing in my room to salvage.”
Both men praised the firefighters who risked their lives to possibly save theirs.
“Whatever they do, they do it good,” Jackson said. “I thank God for all of them.”
“That’s a heroic act to try to go in there with all that fire, to see if the man was in there,” Cogdell said. “I appreciate it.”
The men said the Red Cross is helping them for a few nights, but they need to find a place to stay so they can start rebuilding their lives.
The State Fire Marshal is still investigating but firefighters believe this was an “accidental electrical” fire.
Gainey said there were no signs of foul play. The men suspect a space heater, which they said was unplugged, might be to blame.