By Hector Gutierrez
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
A Denver firefighter who collapsed after battling flames in the basement of a house had a dangerously high level of carbon monoxide in his system, the fire chief said Monday.
Veteran firefighter Sean Wendt had a carbon monoxide level of 13 percent as he struggled inside the Park Hill home Sunday night and told his crew that he was having trouble breathing.
“It’s dangerous, but it’s not life-threatening,” fire Chief Larry Trujillo said of the carbon monoxide level during a news conference Monday in front of the Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the department’s headquarters.
Fire Lt. Rich Montoya, who died after fighting a blaze in May, had a lethal carbon monoxide level of 23 percent.
Wendt, 39, is being treated at Denver Health Medical Center where his condition was upgraded from serious to fair Monday. Wendt was placed under heavy sedation to allow physicians to help his breathing.
Investigators plan to speak with Wendt to see what they can learn about what caused him to encounter problems Sunday night.
Trujillo says Wendt’s airway is swollen and he has some burning inside.
“He’s having trouble talking right now,” said Trujillo, who was expected to visit Monday night with the firefighter’s wife and three children.
As Wendt struggled to breathe inside the burning home in the 2300 block of Poplar Street on Sunday night, a second firefighter, John Gonzales, provided his colleague with supplemental air and helped him escape from the house, officials said. Gonzales, 25, suffered a sprained right ankle during the rescue but was treated at the hospital and released.
Because of the difficulty Wendt had breathing, investigators are looking at the possibility that his oxygen mask malfunctioned. But Trujillo said that the mask is just one area that investigators will study to determine what caused the firefighter to struggle with his breathing.
Trujillo said that about the time Wendt had difficulty breathing, the warning system of an oxygen apparatus used by firefighters activated. But Trujillo said he wasn’t certain if it came from Wendt’s oxygen gear. The warning system gives a firefighter a 10-minute warning that oxygen supplies are running low.
Firefighters are equipped with a secondary system that allows them to plug in secondary oxygen, in case they run low in their primary. In this case, Gonzales, a three-year veteran, managed to use his secondary system to help Wendt.
Wendt had entered the basement of the home when the room filled with smoke, reducing visibility to zero. Investigators were trying Monday to determine the source of the blaze and the cause of the fire.
“Basement fires are absolutely the worst” to battle, Trujillo said.
The chief described Wendt as a good friend who was in excellent condition. He was a triathlete, and the two swim together.
Sunday’s ordeal hit home for the chief and the department - still recovering from Montoya’s death earlier this year. Montoya died just a few days after another colleague, Billy Green, had stopped breathing while fighting another blaze. Green recovered from his injuries.
“It’s been really rough for us,” Trujillo said. " . . . It’s like a lottery, and we’re really running into some bad luck.”
The chief said a third firefighter also suffered a minor injury while fighting the flames Sunday night, but went to a clinic on his own to receive treatment.