GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — A Grand Rapids woman was taken to the hospital after a fire in her home Friday morning. Firefighters had to help her get out.
The fire began around 7 a.m. in the 1300 block of Bradford NE. The woman who lives there went to a nearby business to call 911, but then returned to the burning house. Firefighters pulled her out through a window.
Fire crews say the blaze appears to have started in the basement and accelerated quickly. They are investigating it as suspicious.
“We don’t have a plausible explanation right now of why and how the fire spread so rapidly, so we’re looking for those answers at this time,” said GRFD Battalion Chief Bart Perry.
Firefighters did evacuate, because of concerns a floor could collapse.
The Grand Rapids arson squad is investigating this fire.
The woman was the lone occupant of the home. She is at the hospital in stable condition.
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.
