Canton Rescue

CANTON – One woman is in critical condition following a house fire in Canton on Monday night. Sherry Wright was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield after being rescued from a fire in her home around midnight.

“She was found in the far back bedroom. Both the dog and her were found in the same area,” said Assistant Fire Chief Scott Roos.

Firefighters rescued two victims from a Monday night house fire in Canton- Sherry Wright and her dog Sammy.

“Each one of us relies on the other to do their job. If one person doesn’t do their job, the whole outcome can be drastically different. In our case last night, it went off as good as we can do,” said Captain Roos.

A team of four firefighters put out the flames in the front room. Then Lieutenant Clark Evans helped carry Wright and Sammy out of the house where they were resuscitated by two other firemen.

“We use the same thing. A mask over the dog’s snout. And I wish you could have seen the guys doing it last night. I told them they should have been veterinarians, because they were so gentle,” said Lieutenant Evans.

They say previous practice with the equipment was key to the successful rescue.

“We start off with a ten-minute drill in the morning. Basically that is getting familiar with a piece of equipment may not use all the time,” said Lieutenant Evans

Thankfully Sammy is OK

“She loved her dog. They was, they are real tight together. He is just Sherry’s dog,” said long-time family friend Michael Reith.

But her owner remains hospitalized.

“She just always makes you feel like you are somebody special. I’ve known her all my life. She would do anything for you,” continued Reith.

Now Sammy must wait and hope that her friend of eight years pulls through.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated. Wright’s husband, Randy, was not at the house during the fire.

countyfiretactics

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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