Eric Whitehead credits his fellow firefighters for saving his life when they pulled him from the attic of a burning house in January.
"I just knew my brothers were there," Whitehead told The Buffalo News in a February phone interview from the burn unit at Erie County Medical Center, where he recounted how they picked up his 5-foot-11 inch frame and carried him down two-and-a-half flights to safety.
But in a lawsuit filed Aug. 7 against the Buffalo Fire Department, Whitehead says he was put in danger – blinded by smoke and steam – after a fellow Engine 21 firefighter evacuated the house without him. Isolated and disoriented in the attic, Whitehead was unable to press the "man down" button on his radio. So he removed his gloves in a final attempt to operate his radio, resulting in severe burns to both hands, according to a report from the state Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau.