Firefighters rescued a man who was trapped inside a burning Mexican restaurant in East Los Angeles early Christmas morning.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the blaze at Cesar Chavez and Kern avenues (map) at about 6:15 a.m. to find sheriff’s deputies trying to get the man out of the building, according to Battalion Chief Mark Tolbert.
Firefighters entered the eatery — a popular spot called Zamora Carnitas — and were able to rescue the man, who suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to a local hospital, Tolbert said.
The fire was soon put down, he said.
The blaze at Cesar Chavez and Kern avenues sent smoke towering into the air at dawn, cellphone video taken by a bystander showed.
The inside of the restaurant appeared blackened and charred.
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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