York Man Rescue from Fire

A man had to be forcibly removed from a burning York City house Wednesday night, a city fire official said.

The man, who lives in the house in the first block of North Sherman Street, was using a fire extinguisher in an attempt to put out a fire in the kitchen, said Gregory Halpin, deputy fire chief with York City Fire/Rescue Services.

But when firefighters arrived, he refused to leave despite fiery conditions and heavy smoke.

“We had to forcibly remove him from the building,” the deputy chief said. “Apparently he was attempting to fight the fire.”

The man suffered smoke inhalation and initially refused requests by EMTs to go to an area hospital. The EMTs were eventually able to talk the man into going to York Hospital for additional medical treatment, Halpin said.

Fire: Crews were dispatched to the two-story rowhouse about 7:15 p.m. after a neighbor called 911 when flames were seen shooting from the rear of the house, Halpin said.

Firefighters were initially told someone was trapped inside the house, and they had to force their way inside. The front door, which had a large hole in it, was torn from its hinges and rested against an adjoining house.

Halpin said there was heavy smoke in the house and fire in the kitchen.

Along with the man, firefighters also rescued his dog from the house. The dog was in the care of a neighbor Wednesday night.

The fire gutted the kitchen and also spread to an outside, second story balcony, Halpin said, adding a neighboring house also sustained smoke damaged.

Firefighters had the blaze under control in short order.

Get out: When it comes to fight or flight, Halpin said its best for people to get out of a burning house as soon as they can.

They should leave the firefighting to those who are trained to do it.

Halpin added the man was lucky he wasn’t overcome by smoke and rendered unconscious.

“He was in a very peculiar situation,” Halpin said.

Neither a cause for the fire, nor an estimate on damage was determined Wednesday.

York City firefighters were assisted on the scene by firefighters from North York.

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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.

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