Firefighter recovering after being hurt while putting out DeKalb house fire

CHAMBLEE, Ga. — A DeKalb firefighter is recovering after he was hurt putting out an early morning house fire.

Channel 2 Action News This Morning brought you footage of the breaking news as a home burned in Chamblee.

Early Friday morning, the homeowner woke up to a loud noise, but didn’t know his house was on fire until hours later, when a neighbor saw the flames.

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Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach went to the home in Chamblee on Friday to speak to witnesses and first responders about what happened.

Chamblee police and DeKalb Fire Rescue responded to the call this morning, heading to fire at the home on Hardee Avenue around 5:15 a.m.

After the fire, it looks like everything inside has collapsed, save the stone walls that are still standing.

The homeowner, Celestino Vasquez, said he woke up to a loud explosion in the middle of the night.

“I didn’t see nothing,” Vasquez told Channel 2 Action News. “After the explosion, it was very dark, no light.”

Around 2 a.m., Vasquez told Gehlbach that he lost power so he went to his vehicle.

After three hours, Vasquez was told by his neighbor the house was on fire. He was sitting in his truck, parked in the driveway.

“I hear somebody call, say hey, and saw the fire,” Vasquez said.

No one else was inside the home and Vasquez wasn’t hurt, but one of the firefighters responding to the home was.

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While battling the fire from Vasquez’s backyard, one of the firefighters fell down some steps. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of a minor back injury.

“He was working outside the structure and tripped over one of the hose lines and went down two to three steps,” Battalion Chief Patrick Holcomb told Channel 2 Action News.

The firefighter should be fine, he was treated and already released.

A fire investigator stayed at the house, working to find the exact cause of the fire and determine if it was sparked by the initial explosion Vasquez heard, and if so, what that was.

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