A fire at an apartment building resulted in three lives saved and a firefighter experiencing a close call on Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD) was alerted that night to a blaze in the 800 block of Park Avenue where they found the two-story building going up in smoke, KMBC reported Thursday.
The firefighters learned there were three people in a basement apartment and quickly rescued them before things got worse. One person was taken to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
The situation grew even more intense when a firefighter fell through the first floor of the building and landed in the basement area, prompting a mayday call.
However, “The firefighter was able to get out of the building without injury,” the report stated, adding authorities made sure no one else was inside and in need of help.
Video footage shows the aftermath of the blaze with the firefighters assessing the charred building late into the night:
The fire was brought under control and officials are investigating how it started.
Additional video showed crews filing into the building as they continued making sure the area was safe. KCFD Battalion Chief Riley Nolan explained a mayday call goes out “when one of our members may be experiencing something like this, where they have fallen through the floor. They might be low on oxygen or air in their air tanks.”
“It’s basically an emergency call calling out over the radio to give us emergency traffic on the radios and so that we know how to activate our emergency plans,” he said.
Firefighters across the nation are known for their heroic efforts when rescuing people from similar situations. But not all of the rescues involve fire.
In 2022, a firefighter named Hardus Oberholzer saved a child from rising floodwaters during Hurricane Ian in Florida and he said the moment would remain etched on his memory, per Breitbart News.
“She’ll have a little piece of my heart forever. It’s something in their eyes. When they truly are at their worst, we show up and have to be at our best every time. Something I’ll remember for the rest of my life and I hope they do too,” he said.
The following year, another Florida firefighter adopted a baby girl he found inside a Safe Haven Baby Box.
