Florida firefighter severely burned fighting grease fire in Marion County
Florida firefighter badly burned in house fire
A firefighter who suffered serious burns while trying to put out a house fire Wednesday afternoon will likely remain in the hospital for weeks, according to Marion County Fire Rescue. Cell phone video obtained by FOX 35 showed the moment Capt. Chris Trubelhorn was put into the back of an ambulance as other firefighters worked to extinguish the flames raging behind him.
MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida firefighter was severely burned fighting a house fire in Marion County earlier this week, officials said, and will likely be in the hospital for weeks.
Cell phone video obtained by FOX 35 showed the moment Marion County Fire Rescue Captain Chris Trubelhorn was placed into an ambulance as flames roared from the house in the background.
"To this degree and this severity … I've been here ten years … we haven't had something like this," public information officer James Lucas said Thursday.
Trubelhorn, who's been with the department for 18 years, suffered burns to his arms and upper torso while trying to put out a cooking fire inside a mobile home along Southeast 20th Place in Silver Springs.
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"Within three to four minutes, they had to back out and go into a defensive posture because the conditions within the fire became too much to handle," Lucas said. "The conditions just got so bad so fast. That's how he was burnt."
Not much remained of the mobile home after the fire. Neighbor Darren Tipton said the homeowner is doing OK.
"He was in there cooking and grease splattered up on him, and he ended up flipping the pan, and it turned into a grease fire," he said.
For now, the neighborhood's focus is on helping the homeowners affected while hoping Capt. Trubelhorn makes a speedy recovery.
"I hope that he's going to be OK at the end of it," Tipton said.
Trubelhorn is recovering at the UF Health Shands Burn Center in Gainesville.