A Houston firefighter survived a scare late Friday afternoon.
His crew was cutting a hole in the roof of a south-side home to put a fire out when he fell through.
"He fell through in such a way that the guys that were on the roof weren't able to pull him out," said HFD Deputy Chief Herman Gonzales.
The rest of his crew tried to reach into the hole to pull him out. Fearing the worst, a mayday call went out.
"Any time a firefighter calls a mayday like that, we call for extra help," Gonzales said. "But before that extra help went out to the dispatcher he was already located and extricated quick. "
Dep. Chief Gonzales says he was only trapped for about 30 seconds.
"Luckily there was a crew that was underneath, they got a ladder, positioned his legs on the ladder and then brought him down safely."
"I thought he jumped down, but they said he fell. So I just seen them pulling him out but he jumped up and was like he ok," exclaimed Ashelynn Clark.
Clark lives a few doors down from the house on Luca. She says the homeowner's son was home minutes before the fire started.