By John Latimer
The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania)

LEBANON, Pa. — A Lebanon firefighter who was injured making a rescue during Monday morning's fatal arson fire is slowly recovering, but officials don't expect him to return to action until next year.

Mike Daub, 37, suffered back and pelvic fractures when he fell about 20 feet while rescuing 21-year-old Maritsa Mantialla. Daub was on a ladder helping Mantialla descend from a third-floor apartment at 35 S. Ninth St. when the heat from flames on the second floor caused her to fall, knocking both of them to the ground.

Daub was listed in fair condition yesterday in the Hershey Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesman.

Mantialla suffered severe burns on about 20 percent of her body as well as a broken skull and vertebrae, according to family members. She is listed in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Sixteen others escaped the fire unharmed, but one man, who still has not been identified, was found dead on the second floor, where the fire was started.

Also injured in the fire were Neversink Fire Co. Chief Ed Eisenhour, who fell down a staircase, and an unnamed city police officer, who suffered smoke inhalation while helping Daub and Mantialla. Both have recovered, according to city officials.

Daub was not available for comment yesterday, but Fire Commissioner Barry Fisher said Daub was in good spirits when they last spoke.

Fisher said he anticipates Daub will be out of action for at least eight months. The bureau has a staff of 21, so Daub's absence should not cause too much of a strain, Fisher said.

"It will increase our overtime a little but not extensively," he said.

Daub, who is married and lives with his family in Myerstown, has been a professional firefighter in Lebanon since 2000, Fisher said. Before that, Daub volunteered for many years.

"He does his job very well," Fisher said. "He is well trained, and he knows his firefighting. He is also big into rope rescue."

Fisher called Daub's injury one of the most severe experienced by a city firefighter in recent memory.

"We have not had anyone injured to this extent for quite some time," he said. "We had a broken ankle that kept one man out six months. But this type of injury and the way it happened are uncommon."

Seeing Daub and Mantialla injured was unsettling to the firefighters attacking the 3:30 a.m. blaze, Fisher recalled.

"It was rough for them when it happened, but they quickly got back their focus and returned to the job of battling the fire," he said.

Fisher offered no specifics but said a review of what happened to Daub will result in a few policy and operational changes.

"It woke us up about a few things that we were doing or weren't doing," he said.

Despite those needed changes, Fisher had high praise for the work of the career and volunteer firefighters who fought Monday's blaze.

"With the extreme amount of fire, I think we were very fortunate that these were the only injuries we received," he said. "They did the best they could."

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