Fire at his back, firefighters cut through bars to save man
GRESHAM, Ore. – Firefighters freed a man from his burning mobile home Thursday night, but first they had to saw through metal bars on a window.
According to Gresham Fire Battalion Chief Mark Maunder, the man was trying to save his cats and got trapped in a bedroom.
"The message here if you got a fire in your house, you need to get out," he said. "This is an example where somebody tries to do what they think is right, and they get trapped in a back bedroom – almost cost him his life."
The fire started just before 7 p.m. at the Hogan Meadows Mobile Home Park just off Southeast Hogan and Palmquist roads.
There was another person in the mobile home but that person ran out when the fire started. But the man who was rescued ran to his bedroom, and then couldn't escape because of bars over the window.
Firefighters placed an air mask on the man so he could breathe as he poked his head out of the barred window. Then firefighters used chainsaws with special blades to cut through the bottom of the bars. They pried them up and then pulled the man out. It took about 30 seconds.
Firefighters say the fire started around the kitchen. The cause is under investigation.
The two occupants of the mobile home, neither of whom has been identified, were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Mobile homes are a death trap in the event of a fire.
Firefighters Rock! My Uncle Dan was a FireFighter in Philly when the still had horses pulling the waggons.
 @DDG I thought Uncle Dan was a Vietnam vet who lost his legs worked for Bubba GumpÂ
The headline makes it sound like the fire was at the back of the firefighter, not the man being rescued. Either way, firefighters ROCK!!
were the cats saved ?
 @justme The reporter said at the end of the video that the cats weren't located yet. Hope they are found safe.
Yeah, but what happened to the cats?
good work firefighters
Kudos to the firefighters for working fast to get that poor guy out of there.
The one bar bracket that iss howing looks like a quick release hinge. I suspect that he failed to maintain the emergency foot release on the inside of the room.
This is exactly why the building code prohibits anything over bedroom windows that can't be opened from the inside without the use of a key or special knowledge.
Some bars have a escape latch on the inside that will open the bars in an emergency. Putting any other kind is kinda dumb.
Â
That is a very good reason to NOT put bars on your windows... Or, if you do, have a way to cut through them so you can get out...
Good that the men are okay, but what about the cats?
"Hey, honey! I'm gonna put on these steel bars on the window that don't open. We don't want no one breakin' in to our mobile home and stealing our valuable stuff."
 @Getov Mylon <-----Love the name!!
Â
I think people who put bars on their windows are folks who don't want someone breaking in and doing them bodily harm. It's less about someone stealing valuables, more about personal safety.............or at least a sense of feeling safe.
This guy is lucky. Mobile home fires spread so quickly.