By Michael Boren
The Philadelphia Inquirer
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — An Atlantic City firefighter fell through the floor of an abandoned rowhouse, and two others were injured, as they rescued a woman from a two-alarm blaze less than an hour after their Thanksgiving meal Thursday.
The blaze ignited around 6:55 p.m. on a block of abandoned rowhouses, the windows and doors covered with plywood, along Lighthouse Court.
Investigators are calling the blaze suspicious — there was no working electricity or heat in the home that could have caused it.
When firefighters arrived at the home, they had to rip off plywood and cut it with a saw, Atlantic City Fire Chief Dennis J. Brooks said Friday. Inside, the home was a mess, he said.
“Of course there’s holes everywhere,” Brooks said. “Stairs are cut, there’s holes in floors, broken glass everywhere.”
Firefighters quickly curved through the black smoke and flames, reaching the woman on the third floor. Her hands and back were burned, Brooks said. She was unconscious.
A firefighter’s shoulder was strained from lifting the woman and carrying her out, Brooks said. Another firefighter fell through a hole on the way down and was pulled out. A third firefighter received minor burns to his face.
The three firefighters were evaluated at the scene and did not need further treatment, Brooks said.
The woman who was rescued received CPR from firefighters and her pulse was revived. She was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center and later airlifted later to Temple University Hospital, Brooks said.
Brooks said he did not have the identity of the woman, whom he believed to be homeless. The woman, he said, may have lay in or rolled over the flames, given the burns on her back.
“She’s in bad shape,” he said.
The blaze was among several that Atlantic City fire crews responded to Thursday. They also extinguished a car fire that was set, and an accidental fire in a store.
The firefighters were able to start their shift at 6 p.m. Thursday with a meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, and bread. They had “a full belly,” Brooks said, “when they were rolling out the door.”
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