A fire on the third floor of an eight-storey highrise prompted a rescue operation in Little Burgundy.
The fire started just before 1:30 p.m. in a low-income housing unit, near the corner of Paxton and Guy streets.
More than 30 fire trucks and 80 firefighters responded to the call. Many of them helped get residents out of the 84-unit building. Firefighters removed several people from the building and off of balconies.
Paramedics transported two women in their late fifties to hospital for smoke inhalation.
They also evaluated one firefighter on site, but did not take him to hospital.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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.
