VIDEO: In his 15 year career as a firefighter, Lt. Stephen Curry with Roanoke Fire-EMS has never seen anything like the fire that happened on Bullitt Avenue in southeast Roanoke over the weekend.
A fire broke out around 5:45 on Saturday morning at a vacant house on the 700 block of Bullitt Avenue. As the fire burned through the structure, it started to collapse. Firefighters warned each other to be careful. Not long after, the building toppled.
“I have not personally seen this happen in my career. Often in the city, it doesn’t happen because our trucks get there so quick and our crews are on it pretty quickly. You can have fires that devastate a house, but it’s still standing," said Curry. "So to see that particular house twist in that fashion and collapse in the back was kind of an odd sight.”
Falling debris hit and injured one firefighter.
“That was certainly a close call. We do a dangerous job," said Curry.