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Six San Francisco Firefighters Injured, One in Critical Condition

by Tina Kells | February 5, 2009 at 11:54 am

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Six firefighters have been injured in a roof collapse while fighting an early morning blaze in San Francisco, Thursday. The San Francisco Fire Department has not released many details about the injured firefighters but it is known that one firefighter is fighting for his life.

One of the firefighters suffered life threatening injuries related to major smoke and gas inhalation and is in critical condition. Two others have second degree burns and remain in hospital. The remaining three injured firefighters suffered minor injuries including mild smoke inhalation and a twisted ankle.

For an update on this story please see: Cause Of 3-Alarm San Fran Fire Unknown, Firefighter Still in ICU

One firefighter suffered life-threatening injuries after inhaling superheated gases while fighting the fire at 627 Felton Street, said Lt. Ken Smith of the San Francisco Fire Department.

That firefighter's airway was compromised and is being treated at San Francisco General Hospital, Smith said.

Two firefighters suffered second-degree burns, two suffered smoke inhalation and one is being treated for a twisted knee, Smith said.

The fire broke out in a vacant building around 12:30am and when firefighters arrived on the scene thick black smoke was everywhere. The fire appeared to be a standard blaze so the firefighters entered the building through the front door, but once they were inside it was clear that the roof was unstable.

The entry team immediately called a withdrawl but it was too late; the roof collapsed with some firefighters still inside. A second rescue unit went in to the building to retrieve their trapped colleagues and two firefighters were pulled from the collapsed building.

The fire scene is now under further investigation to discover the cause of the initial fire and to identify how the situation took such a terrible turn.

Before the fire was declared under control at 1:45 a.m., more than 180 fire department personnel battled aggressive flames, heavy smoke and extreme heat, conditions that forced crews to retreat at one point and caused a large portion of the structure's roof to collapse, Smith said.

Investigating crews will remain at the scene until about 7 a.m. this morning, Smith said, and an announcement will be made regarding a news conference to be held by fire officials later this morning to continue to update the public on the condition of the six injured firefighters.

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pixieclipx

at 22:46 on February 8th, 2009

I just want to be clear, that when you ask for my photos, and I graciously allow you to use them, and that when I request track, that I get photo credit and track back to my Flickr site. That doesn't seem to be happening on NowPublic anymore, so I don't think I will allow my photos on this site any further. This is the 3rd time that I saw no photo credit, not comment about me being a photo contributo to this story, and no track back. Bad management by this website.