Backdraft caught on dashboard camera. One firefighter injured as Kernersville, North Carolina house explodes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-3FSOZu_Eg&hl=en&fs=1]
Click here for a closer view of the dashboard camera video
Watch raw video of the fire after the explosion occurred
View a slide show of the fire’s aftermath
Interview with Firefighter Jay Coleman who was inside the home went the backdraft occurred
From our sister station WFMY-TV:
A firefighter was sent to the hospital after a fiery explosion inside a Kernersville home.
“I didn’t hear or see anything,” said Jay Coleman, a Kernersville firefighter. “I felt myself get lifted up and slammed through the door.”
Firefighters responded to a house fire on Union Cross Road just before 2 a.m. Wednesday. Two employees at the Dell Computers plant were leaving work when they spotted flames and called 911. The passersby also alerted the family inside the home.
Kernersville Fire Chief Walt Summerville said seven people were inside the house when the fire started, but all escaped without injury.
Summerville said an explosion caused the caused the roof to collapse while a fire crew was still inside the house. He believes the explosion was a back draft, which was caused by a build-up of smoke in the crawl space of the home.
All of the firefighters made it out okay, but Coleman was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure. He was treated and released.
“I have a little bump on the back of my head,” said Coleman, who feels fortunate to have escaped the explosion with minor injuries. “I’m very thankful. I talked to God several times already.”
Summerville says all indications show the fire was started near the fireplace in the home. The fireplace was being used at the time.
