By Doug Nurse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — The first Fulton County firefighter to die in the line of duty since 1985 succumbed to smoke and soot inhalation while trying to rescue another man who also perished in a Memorial Day fire, according to the Fulton County medical examiner's office.

Firefighter Felix Roberts, 41, died early Monday when he rushed into a house fire to save John Callahan, 57, of Johns Creek, who also died of smoke inhalation.

Roberts had a breathing mask, but state fire marshal Alan Shuman said there could be a thousand ways that Roberts' mask could have been knocked off, especially after a wall of superheated air flashed through the house.

"Everyone is taking cover, you're disoriented, you can't see, you're trying to get away," Shuman said. "It doesn't take long to be overcome."

The fatal fire is being investigated by the Safety Fire Commissioner's Office, the Fulton County Fire Department and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

The agencies are studying response time, procedures and equipment.

Preliminary investigation indicates the fire may have been started by unattended candles in an enclosed patio, said John Oxendine, state fire commissioner.

The first fire engines arrived at 4:59 a.m. at the brick and panel house in south Johns Creek. Upon arrival, homeowner Marti Baumann, who escaped the fire, told firefighters her fiance, Callahan, was in the house. Firefighters organized into a two-man hose team, including Roberts, and a three-man search team and went into the smoke-filled house through the front door.

They traveled upstairs, but Callahan wasn't in the master bedroom where Baumann told firefighters she thought he was. He later was found in the opposite side of the house, Shuman said.

Then the remaining air in the house ignited, Oxendine said.

The result was a wall of superheated air, which can reach 1,000 degrees. Fire was rolling over their heads against the ceiling.

The search team escaped through the front door, but the hose team became separated and disoriented, and apparently went down another set of stairs. Roberts collapsed. His partner, Capt. Wayne Gilliard, called for help by radio and dragged Roberts to another part of the house, but he couldn't find an exit, Shuman said.

Firefighters found Gilliard, who was out of air.

As they pulled him out, he was screaming, "Get Felix. You have to get Felix out," Oxendine said.

Firefighters found Roberts unresponsive on the floor, his mask off, Shuman said. Roberts is survived by his mother, who was in town for a holiday visit; and four siblings.

Visitation for Roberts will be noon to 6 p.m. today at Murray Brothers Funeral Home, 1199 Utoy Springs Road S.W., Atlanta. A wake will follow from 6 until 8 p.m.

The funeral is set for 11 a.m. at Elizabeth Baptist Church, 4245 Cascade Road S.W., Atlanta.

Interment will follow in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens at 5755 Mallory Road, Atlanta.

In lieu of flowers or cards, the Roberts family requests that donations be made in memory of Felix to the Grady Memorial Hospital Burn Unit or the American Cancer Society.

A memorial fund has been established for Roberts' family through any Wachovia Bank. A similar fund has been established through the Bank of America on Old Alabama Road for Marti Baumann.