4 burned firefighters trying to escape a house fire

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Four firefighters were burned Tuesday as they attempted to rescue someone they believed to be from a burning single-family home on Acorn Street in northwest Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Fire-Rescue was called just after 1 p.m. and saw flames and thick smoke coming out of the house. Neighbors said someone was trapped inside, so four firefighters forced their way inside and encountered strong heat and flames.

JFRD Chief Keith Powers said the firefighters suffered first and second degree burns but were in good condition and should be treated and released from UF Health Jacksonville within hours.

Powers credited the high-quality bunker with the town’s problems to prevent more serious injury to firefighters.

“This is the best equipment in the business, and without it, those burns would have been much more severe,” Powers said.

He said one of the injured firefighters actually “struggled” to be sent home to recover, saying he wanted to return to work.

“Every day in this town (there are) house fires and these firefighters are responding to them,” Powers said. “When you have a connection from someone on the inside, they’ll do anything to attract these people, and that’s exactly what they did. They went into a very hot, blind environment to perform this rescue and pushed the boundaries of where they should be.

Firefighters couldn’t find anyone inside and after the fire was completely extinguished, firefighters determined that no one was home at the time of the blaze.

The man the neighbors believed to be still in the house said he was not surprised the firefighters were told someone was likely inside.

“We look out for each other, up and down this street,” Jackson said.

Jack Cogdell, who has lost just about everything he owns in the rental home, said the Fire Marshal told him the fire allegedly ignited due to an electrical problem with a heater. Fire crews were able to recover a pot of money for Cogdell.