A Detroit firefighter who was severely burned when a burning vacant house collapsed late last year is back on the job.
In early October 2019, firefighter Mark Taylor was part of the response involving a residential blaze. He suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body when he became pinned by debris when the house's roof collapsed. Taylor was one of five Detroit firefighters injured in the intentionally set blaze.
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“It didn’t feel like that was the end," he told WDIV-TV. "I had to wonder if that was it? Is this what death is gonna feel like for me?"
The injuries put Taylor in a hospital burn unit for three weeks. His recovery continued for months after he was released from the hospital.
“There was a lot of dark days when I felt really bad, and I didn’t have to smile and didn’t want to tell them everything was going to be OK,” he told WDIV. "So, to push through that and express to everyone—so they’d believe me, I was going to be all right. Some of those days were really tough."
Taylor, who heads the department's clown team that entertains kids in the hospital, has finally returned to active duty. Because he was off the job for a year, he has been training five hours daily, so he can regain the proper physical shape in order return to full-time status.
Investigators determined that the fire was an arson. Police arrested and charged a 73-year-old man with five counts of first-degree arson and a single count of second-degree arson
