EAST ORANGE — Five people, including one child, are unaccounted for after a blaze ripped through several homes on North 17th Street this morning, according to a city spokeswoman.
East Orange spokeswoman Connie Jackson said emergency crews were called to the scene just after 6 a.m. Strong winds were blowing through the area at the time. The fire started at 16 North 17th Street, Jackson said, and spread to two neighboring homes.
Jackson said a woman was rescued from the third floor of the home where the fire started. That woman suffered from minor smoke inhalation, she said.
Six people lived in the home, according to Jackson, and four adults and one child are still unaccounted for.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and East Orange fire department are investigating the blaze.
The three homes damaged in the fire are uninhabitable, Jackson said. The home at 14 North 17th Street was vacant, she said, and one person lived at the home at 18 North 17th Street. That person escaped without injuries, Jackson said.
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.
