THREE OAKS — A resident of Oakview Estates in Three Oaks was seriously injured in an early morning fire on Friday, May 16.
Three Oaks Fire Chief Dave Flick said the call from Lot 75 came in at 4:46 a.m., initially as an alarm signal. The first responders to arrive saw it was a structure fire.
Rescued from the smoke-filled home was Dr. Chase Atwood, who Flick said was found near a door in his wheelchair.
Initially Atwood wasn’t moving, but Flick said he soon began attempting to breathe.
“We bagged him, got him going. His pulse and his heartbeat started coming back. Three Oaks Ambulance transported him immediately to Lakeland Hospital in Niles, and from there he was transported to Bronson (in Kalamazoo) by ambulance,” Flick said.
Atwood suffered some second-degree burns on his arms and to a lesser extent on his face, but Flick said the most serious affects of the fire involved smoke inhalation.
As of midday Friday, Flick said Atwood was listed in critical condition at Bronson Hospital.
Flick said the home had six working smoke detectors inside.
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.
