A Clark County Fire District 13 firefighter is at home recuperating after a roof collapsed on him while fighting a fire earlier this week.
Chuck Andrus, a captain who has spent seven years with the fire agency, was part of a crew working a Yacolt-area house fire Monday, Fire Chief Ben Peeler said.
Crews were called at about 7:40 p.m. to a house in the 27000 block of Northeast Felkel Road. Peeler said that fireworks started the fire, which eventually crawled into the attic.
A crew of four firefighters was inside the rear door pulling ceiling and working to extinguish the blaze when the collapse happened, Peeler said.
Three of the firefighters got swept backwards toward the door while Andrus got pushed into the house, Peeler said.
At that point, crews called for a mayday, Peeler said.
“It was no more than 30 seconds, it felt like hours,” he said. “Anytime you have a person missing … you start thinking worse-case scenarios.”
Andrus was knocked to the ground and had the wind knocked out of him, Peeler said. He was able to get his bearings, though, and made it to a front window, Peeler said. Andrus broke out the window and Peeler was among those who ran to help him outside.