By Bryn Mickle
Flint Journal
FLINT, Mich. — One firefighter remains in serious condition today at the Hurley Medical Center burn unit after he and two of his colleagues were burned Tuesday night in a flash fire at a home on Flint’s east side.
Lieutenant Rodney Patterson was engulfed in flames, and he and firefighter Dan McBride had to be pulled from the burning house on Ivanhoe Avenue near Virginia Street.
Battalion Chief Theresa Root today said Patterson suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns and will be in the hospital for some time, However, he is expected to recover.
“I’m sure he’s got a lot of pain ahead,” Root said of the 17-year veteran of the department.
McBride suffered second-degree burns to his left wrist and neck, while firefighter Eric Imeson was burned on both ears. Imeson was able to escape the house on his own through a front window, Root said.
The injuries occurred after firefighters were called to a bedroom fire in a rental home about 6 p.m. Root said it appeared to be a “garden-variety house fire” when they first arrived on the scene.
The woman who lived at the house, LaShanda Jackson, said she came home from Christmas shopping to find the one-story home on fire. She said her son told her he lit a Christmas candle to make the house smell nice and was in another room playing a video game with a friend when he smelled smoke.
The boys were not injured in the fire.
Five firefighters were inside the home when a hose line broke and flames flashed over them in the rear of the house. Root said Patterson was barely inside the front door when the flash-over occurred, leaving him engulfed in flames.
He crumpled to the floor screaming and began crawling his way out when fellow firefighters pulled him from the house along with McBride.
A fourth firefighter, Jermaine Smith, was not burned but suffered a jammed wrist.
One other firefighter managed to make it out of the home without injury.
Root said she had never seen anything like it.
"(Patterson) was actually engulfed (in flames),” Root said. “It was a very close call for the Flint Fire Department. We haven’t had a close call like this in quite awhile.”
American Red Cross officials were called to the scene to assist the family.
A Flint police arson investigator also was at the scene.
Root praised the work of all of the firefighters involved in the incident.
“My guys did a great job,” Root said.
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