By Juan Ortega
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Copyright 2007 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
SUNRISE, Fla. — Anthony Pelosi aspired to be a firefighter but he says a knee injury made him give up his dream.
On Monday, the injury did not stop him from battling a fire at Diabetic Plus, the medical supply company he works for at 777 Shotgun Road.
“If it weren’t for his quick thinking and cool composure, things would have really gone up in smoke. He saved about 60 jobs. We’re going to make a plaque for him,” Pelosi’s co-worker, David Plante, said Tuesday.
Around noon, an employee saw fire head up a wall in the warehouse, which was filled with boxes of medical supplies for diabetes testing. She shouted for help and Pelosi, 31, a former paramedic, ran to the fire.
Worried that two red gasoline containers inside would ignite, he began spraying the fire extinguishers a co-worker handed him. He yelled for his co-workers to evacuate.
He shouted for someone to close a hallway door but employees elsewhere thought he was talking to them. They misunderstood and closed a larger warehouse door, trapping him inside the smoke-filled room.
Fortunately, he remembered his paramedic training from Coral Springs Fire Academy, where he graduated three years ago.
“I got on my hands and knees and the smoke started to push downward to the ground. I was down there for two minutes and gasping for air,” he said. “I came to terms with Jesus real quick. I’m not real religious.”
He found a door and managed to get out as Sunrise firefighters arrived. They stopped the fire.
Facing a fire was somewhat familiar for the Miramar man, whose training reminded him to stay calm and find solutions.
“He knew what he was doing. It could have definitely spread and gotten out of control,” said Daniel Plante, David Plante’s younger brother who works next door and saw Pelosi fighting the fire.
Pelosi, who was treated for smoke inhalation at Cleveland Clinic in Weston and released, said he still had a burning sensation in his throat and his eyes itched on Tuesday.
“It takes a lot out of you, but it makes you feel good at the end of the day,” he said.
The fire caused minimal damage and was ruled accidental, said Sunrise Fire Division Chief Tom O’Connell. Its cause is unknown, he said, but employees wondered whether someone carelessly discarded a cigarette.
“Even though the fire was small, the volume of smoke was tremendous,” O’Connell said.