Police/Fire

Central Firefighters Save House Despite Injuries

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Submitted by Central Fire Department
 
Central Fire Department District Chief Bert McCutcheon and Firefighter Michael Kelly were injured Saturday evening battling a house fire at 17819 Lake Vista Dr. The two firefighters were advancing a hose line through the garage toward a storeroom that was on fire.Suddenly and without warning the overhead garage door, which was open, totally collapsed trapping McCutcheon under the door. The edge of the door struck Kelly's helmet, dislodged his air pack face piece, and knocked him into the driveway. Firefighter Kelly immediately ran to the collapsed door and lifted it enough for McCutcheon to crawl out of the garage. McCutcheon and Kelly reentered the garage and extinguished most of the fire as additional Central and Baton Rouge Fire Department apparatus and personnel arrived on scene. 
 
McCutcheon was treated on scene by EMS for minor burns and Kelly was transported to a local hospital for observation and released later Saturday night.
 
Home owner, Gary Richard stated he was in the rear of his home and was unaware of the fire until family members alerted him. The fire originated in the store room and spread to the garage; but was extinguished prior to spreading into the living area of the residence. Cause of the fire is undetermined.
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