By EMS1 Staff
CAMAS, Wash. — A Wash. firefighter became engulfed in flames while battling a house fire and says he briefly became a “human fireball.”
Firefighters Ron Nickles and Gary Horst were the first to enter a two-story townhouse that was burning Thursday morning, according to the Columbian.
The pair ran up to the second floor of the home and quickly put out the flames and moved on to ventilating the room.
“There was zero visibility. Smoke had risen to the ceiling and we couldn’t see anything,” Firefighter Nickles said.
Firefighter Horst opened a window and something fell from the sill and broke at his feet, consuming him in flames.
“I was a human fireball,” Firefighter Horst said. “I started yelling, ‘Ronny put me out!’ That’s what I kept saying over and over again.”
Firefighter Nickles, however, said he was confused at the moment.
“I couldn’t figure out what happened, we already had the fire out,” he told the paper. “Gary just turned into an instant ball of fire. … He looked like Nicolas Cage in ‘Ghost Rider.’ ”
Firefighter Horst says that he was on fire for just a few seconds, but it felt much longer.
Firefighter Nickles, who had dropped his hose about 10 feet away after putting out the fire ran back and doused Firefighter Horst in water.
Firefighter Horst said he is grateful that his gear protected him and that in his 16 years in the service he has never seen anyone catch on fire like he did.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but a tenant in the home said that he was using a lighter to look for something under the bed because he had no flashlight.
No one was injured in the incident.