Rescue in Chicago

April 22, 2014 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Firefighters pulled 73-year-old Paul Fomby to safety through a second-story window at his burning home in the Roseland neighborhood.

Chicago Fire Department firefighters arrived around 9 a.m. Tuesday to the burning home in the 700-block of East 105th Street. The rest of the tenants in the two-flat were already out of the building, but Fomby was trapped in an upstairs front bedroom. Neighbors saw him waving his arms and calling for help.

“I ran across the street to get my mask ’cause I was going to go in there and get him myself,” said Christopher Kelly, a neighbor, “but the smoke was so thick I couldn’t get in there.”

Firefighters had to feel their way through thick smoke to locate Fomby, and determined carrying him out through the window was safer than taking him down the stairs.

“We’re protected from the heat but the civilian isn’t,” said Mike Rowan of CFD. “So you bring him into a 400-degree room and he certainly will die.”

Firefighters inside and outside the building coordinated the rescue effort, and Mark Cavaletti carried him down the ladder.

“They did all the hard work,” said Cavaletti. “They got him to the window and all I did was carry him down the ladder.”

Fomby’s son, Reginald, arrived at the hospital shortly after he was admitted. Fomby is currently in stable condition.

A pit bull who was also rescued from the fire is unharmed, as are her six puppies. The cause of the fire was determined to be electrical.

Video:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/chicago_news&id=9512281

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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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