Arsonist sets house fire that injures 11 residents in Brooklyn, witnesses say
Residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building said they saw a woman force open the door and pour gasoline on the stairwell Thursday morning.
“One woman was pulled out of the fire … we thought she was dead, but the firefighters managed to resuscitate her.”
Resident Shanell Dukes, 18, who escaped with her 26-year-old brother, were woken up by people screaming “Fire! Fire!” she said.
Her brother cut his arm while trying unsuccessfully to break the back window, but, moments later, a firefighter smashed the glass with a crowbar, giving them a shot at freedom
Firefighters said they got to the scene within three minutes, but the blaze had already spread to two floors — trapping helpless victims inside. Firefighters had to saw through window bars to reach the trapped residents. At least one victim was unconscious, officials said. Four of the 11 residents rescued were in critical condition Thursday morning. Two others had serious injuries.
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Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.
Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.
He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.
