SAN JOSE --
San Francisco Firefighter Chris Posey is on the road to recovery after being badly injured fighting an arson fire last month. Posey is now at his home in San Jose with his family.
On February 5th, Posey suffered second degree burns to his face, ears and neck. But the far more serious injuries were the severe lung respiratory burns. For two and a half weeks, he was in a coma fighting for his life.
Wednesday, he talked to KTVU's Amber Lee about his recollections of that night. Posey said, "I did regain consciousness in the back of the ambulance for a couple of minutes. I was telling the paramedic, please call my wife because I wasn't sure I was going to survive."
He described being in a burning house on Felton Street. "It was extremely hot. We were crawling on our bellies. The heat was so intense. Somehow there was some type of explosion that knocked my captain to the right knocked me to the left. In the process, my helmet came off. My mask wasn't blown off, it was blown to the side of my face. That's when I inhaled hot gases and I apparently went unconscious shortly after that."
Fire investigators determined that the fire was deliberately set, but so far no one has been arrested.
Posey said, "I was kind of angry because of the possibility of arson. There were five other firefighters who got hurt too." Posey added, "Hopefully, they can track him down and make sure this doesn't happen to anybody else."
The firefighters association is offering a $75,000 reward.
Posey said he's thankful for the outpouring of support not only from friends and colleagues but from strangers as well.
He said he hopes to put on his uniform and get back to fighting fires again in six months. For now, he says he's concentrating on healing from his physical and mental scars.
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