Oklahoma City Firefighter rushed to hospital after battling generator-caused fire

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - An Oklahoma City Firefighter was rushed to the hospital in serious condition after he inhaled a blast of superheated smoke at a fire Wednesday night.

Officials said it happened at a fire near 122nd and Macarthur, one of more than 50 fires crews responded to over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The fire started with a generator next to the house.

“The generator had ran out of gas and was extremely hot and someone went to attempt to put some more gas into the generator and that’s when the fire started,” said Maj. Louis Marschik.

The firefighter made a hole in the roof for air flow, but when his mask alerted he was running low on air, he went to check it, and that’s when he was hit with the smoke and heat.

“He disengaged it but he didn’t realize that he was still pretty close to the opening and that’s where the smoke hit him,” Maj. Marschik said.

At first, the firefighter said he felt fine.

“But just to take precautions and because of what happened, they had him transported to Baptist,” said Maj. Marschik. ‘Along the way he started to go down hill a little bit, his condition, and right now he’s at Baptist, the ICU there next to the burn center.”

He doesn’t have external burns and is expected to recover.

Firefighters are asking anyone using generators to make sure they are cool before attempting refuel them, and to make sure they are outside in a well-ventilated area.

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