The five Norwalk firefighters who went to the hospital after battling an escalating fire over the holiday weekend are home, recovering and eager to get back to work, according to Fire Chief Edward McCabe.
Crews responded to a three-story home on Golden Hill Street between Bayfield and Elmwood avenues just before 2:30 p.m. Saturday. โIt was quite the commotion,โ said neighbor Jim Clark. โI think all the fire trucks were here.โ McCabe confirmed every fire company ended up being brought to the scene.
โI saw massive amounts of smoke. In fact, my wife said to me, โI understand now why people are so worried about smoke inhalation injuriesโ because the amount of smoke coming from the building was incredible,โ Clark recalled.
The first arriving crews encountered severe conditions when they entered the home with the initial hose line, McCabe said. โWhat occurred is called a rollover where you have superheated smoke and gases at the ceiling which rapidly ignite and turn to fire. That causes a severe heat condition which is what pushed the firefighters back to the front door,โ explained McCabe.
He said five firefighters suffered burns and went to the hospital. Two were released quickly after being checked out while the other three sustained second-degree burns to their upper backs and shoulders, according to McCabe.
โThey were burned by the radiant heat through their protective equipment,โ he stated, adding those firefighters were later released from the hospital. McCabe said other crews on the scene were able to put out the flames quickly after the initial push.
