St. Paul firefighter Joaquin Rosales and several of his colleagues rushed to a pile of rubble on the city’s East Side Friday morning when an unusually large explosion destroyed a home and damaged several buildings.
They were searching amid piles of debris and exposed nails when Rosales heard moaning and groaning. “You could hear him calling out,” Rosales recounted Monday afternoon. “Immediately I just began doing my job. I’ve never experienced anything like this.” Rosales was the first person to discover John Lundahl, 80, buried under insulation and debris in the 600 block of Payne Avenue. Rosales called out to his colleagues, and with the help of about four other firefighters, pulled Lundahl out as several spot fires burned around them.