WICHITA, Kan. – Fire broke out early Friday at an east Wichita apartment complex, leaving one man in critical condition at a hospital.
Crews were called around 1:25 a.m. to the Eagle Creek Apartments on East Lincoln, near Webb. Battalion Chief Joe Bickle says firefighters found a man in one unit overcome by smoke. That middle-aged man was carried out, and taken to a hospital with smoke inhalation.
Bickle says the apartment now is considered unlivable: Firefighters worked quickly to keep the flames from spreading to other units.
The fire seemed to start in a living room, then spread smoke to a bedroom. The cause of the fire was uncertain Friday morning.
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.
