WALTON COUNTY– On September 4, DeFuniak Springs Fire officials responded to a structure fire off of Highway 331, but when they arrived on scene, this case was different than most.
Inside the home was a 91-year-old World War II veteran stuck among the flames.
It was just a normal shift for DeFuniak Springs Firefighter James Stultz, responding to a structure fire in the middle of the night.
But when he arrived on scene, the sense of urgency was not just focused on putting out the fire. A person was still stuck inside the home.
Andrew Thompson, 91, and his caretaker were both in the home when the fire started,
Thompson’s care-taker was trying to get him out of the home, but the smoke was too much for her to handle…
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.
