The state Fire Marshal is investigating a Sunday afternoon house fire in the Vilone Village neighborhood of Elsmere that left a 56-year-old man trapped.
Around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, calls to 911 reported the sound of an explosion, followed by thick smoke coming from the home in the unit block of Harvey Place.
Fire officials say they found a man unconscious on the second floor. He was treated at the scene by New Castle County paramedics for burns and smoke inhalation, taken to Christiana Hospital, and then transferred to Crozer Medical Center. He was admitted to the burn unit in critical condition suffering from smoke inhalation and burns.
One other resident was able to flee from the home when he was alerted by a working smoke alarm. The American Red Cross is assisting two adult residents.
Moderate fire damage to the home was estimated at $10,000. State fire investigators are currently investigating the origin and cause of the fire.
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.
