An Atlanta fire captain suffered a serious knee injury when a concrete wall collapsed on him and other firefighters while they worked to put out lingering hot spots following a two-alarm apartment blaze Wednesday.
The residential fire broke out shortly before 12:30 p.m. at a four-story apartment complex along the border of the city's Midtown and Buckhead districts, WXIA-TV reports. As crews searched the first three floors of the complex for people, flames had engulfed the fourth floor, and it was no longer safe for firefighters.
Eventually, crews were able to contain the fire and re-enter the building to in order to finish putting out the remaining flames and hot spots, Atlanta Fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford told WXIA. They also went unit by unit to make sure no one was still trapped inside the building.
A captain and other firefighters were working from a parking deck when an outside concrete wall fell on them, Stafford said. The collapse seriously injured the captain's knee. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.
Stafford told WXIA that firefighters and investigators would most likely remain at the scene for a few hours to make sure all the flames were extinguished and to determine the fcause of the fire.
