DETROIT (WXYZ) — On Thursday, two firefighters were trapped inside a collapsed building. Eight firefighters in total were taken to the hospital and as of Thursday night, one is still in "temporary serious condition."
The fire started in a vacant home at around 12:45 p.m. near 7 Mile Road and Hollywood Avenue.
The Detroit Arson Task Force, which includes the Detroit Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is assisting in the investigation to determine the cause.
Moments after the mayday call went out, nearly 60 firefighters arrived on scene of a vacant house fire. The home collapsed on multiple firefighters, trapping two of them inside.
“You kind of want to think you plan for this, but you can never plan for a situation like this,” Detroit Fire Department Chief James Harris said.
Harris says one of the firefighters escaped on his own, but another needed help. He said a rescue like this is strategic to prevent further injury. As seen from Chopper 7, firefighters pulled away debris, digging for their trapped colleague. Finally, they rescued him after over an hour.
“We’re one big family, so we all go into rescue safety mode," Harris said. "We do whatever it takes to rescue one of our own.”
Roads were shut down as the trapped firefighter were escorted to hospitals by ambulance. Despite the home being vacant, Harris says it’s their job to enter.
“You never know if a victim is in that home... so we always take every fire serious,” Harris said. "We always want to make sure if there are any victims in that home we are going to get them out. It is always rescue first with us.”
As for the investigation, DPD and ATF are involved looking to see if it was arson. They vow to pull out the stops to prosecute those responsible if it was intentional.
“This was a vacant house, but there were firefighters injured fighting this fire and they could have died," ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Keith Krolczyk said. "We’re going to take that very serious.”
ATF says depending on if there’s video or witnesses, that investigation could be quick or could take months or even years to complete.
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