Huntersville Firefighters Rescue 600-Pound Man From Burning Home.
When the call came for a fire on Rich Hatchet road, firefighters knew they would have their hands full.
They had been to the home before on medical calls, and they knew the man living there was extremely obese.
About 600 pounds
Before fire trucks arrived, a Huntersville police officer and another man rushed into the home, hoping to help, but quickly realized they could not.
Firefighters arrived, and without hesitation charged into the burning home.
“In active fire conditions, with fire rolling over their heads and in between them, they worked hard and got him out of the house,” said Huntersville fire spokesman Bill Suthard.
He says they put an oxygen pack on the man as six firefighters lifted him.
“On a normal good day,” Suthard said, “it would take about nine of us to move him. But we did it with six, and we did it fast. It wasn’t gentle, is the best way to put it.”
The man is in the hospital; his condition not known. And the cause of the fire is under investigation.
But the house was a total loss.
The Huntersville police officer who first went into the home was treated for smoke inhalation. But no Huntersville firefighters were hurt.
As Bill Suthard looked back on rescue, he said, “It could’ve been a lot worse. We had some guardian angels on our shoulders.”
Huntersville Firefighters Rescue 600-Pound Man From Burning Home. was originally published on wbt.com
