Rescue in Paris, TX

PARIS, Texas — A Paris man is fighting for his life after a fire trapped him inside his home.

It happened in the block of West Sherman and 15th Southwest around 10 o’clock last night.

A neighbor who made a life-saving phone call tells us how close this came to being a complete tragedy.

“Someone driving by knocked on the door and said my neighbor’s house was on fire,” said Jacob Langley, the victim’s next door neighbor.

Langley says he immediately called 911, then ran over to the burning house and began knocking out windows and doors to try to rescue his neighbor.

“He was like your neighbor’s house is on fire, your neighbors house is on fire,” said Langley, describing the eyewitness’s panic. “I looked and there’s probably 6 to 8 foot flames shooting out the front window.”

With flames rushing out of the home, the Paris fire department says their first priority was saving the man trapped inside who was found unconscious.

“Visibility was almost zero. You know, you can’t see your hand in front of your face hardly because the smoke is so dense,” said Paris Fire Deputy Chief Jerry Horton.

Langley told News 12 the victim and his wife had been saving up to go on a vacation and were planning to leave for Las Vegas and LA Friday.

“I think it was their first vacation,” said Langley. “She’s worked, from what one of their son’s said, she’s worked since she was 14 years old and maybe taken a total of month off since she was 14.”

Her husband is now critical condition. He was taken to a Paris hospital last night. One of his close friends says he’s now being treated at a Dallas hospital.

“I’m just hoping that he’s gonna make it through and praying, because he’s a really good man,” Langley told News 12.

The fire department says the home is heavily damaged but not a total loss. They believe the fire was accidental. The cause is still under investigation.

countyfiretactics

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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