By Amanda Codispoti
The Roanoke Times
 
ROANOKE, Va. — A firefighter was recovering at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital on Friday night after he went into cardiac arrest while battling a house fire in Southwest Roanoke, a department spokeswoman said.

The firefighter, Scott Hetherington, 39, was in stable condition Friday night, said spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury.

Firefighters pulled Hetherington out of a house in the 1100 block of Ferdinand Avenue, said Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback.

"He was in pretty rough shape," Hoback said.

Firefighters were called to the house at 3:21 p.m., Bradbury said.

When they arrived flames were coming from the back of the home. Firefighters entered the front of the house to make sure no one was inside.

A short time later, Hope Kauffman, a neighbor, said she saw Hetherington come outside onto the porch.

"The next thing we seen he was on his knees," she said. "They had to drag him down onto the sidewalk."

Kauffman said Hetherington was placed on his back so that firefighters and medics could give him CPR.

"They dropped everything" to help him, she said.

A police cruiser escorted the ambulance to the hospital.

Two boys who lived at the home were also taken to the hospital with minor injuries they suffered while trying to get in the burning house, Bradbury said. One boy had a cut and another suffered smoke inhalation.

Witnesses said the boys were trying to get inside the house to rescue their dog.

"I grabbed him and told him to wait," for firefighters, said Larry Beal, who lives next door to the house that caught fire.

The dog died in the blaze, and the family's kitten had not been found, Bradbury said.

The Red Cross is assisting the five people — three adults and two children — who were displaced by the fire, Bradbury said.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the fire, and a damage estimate was not available Friday night, Bradbury said.

Copyright 2007 The Roanoke Times
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News