CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Charleston Fire Department announced that firefighter Captain John Hastings has been released from the hospital and will now recover at home.
Captain John Hastings, a firefighter who has been with the department for 18 years, was one of the crew members that responded to the fire at an abandoned home in the 700 block of Crescent Road in Charleston. The house was already in full blaze when the crews arrived.
After completing a search of the first floor of the home to make sure no-one was inside, a large portion of the second floor suddenly caved in onto the first floor in what Hodges said was a pancake-style collapse.
Captain Hastings was standing where the floor collapsed and it landed directly on top of him. The crews immediately called a Mayday and the rescue efforts to recover Hastings from the debris began.
At first Hastings was not responding. Hodges said that a rush of adrenaline kicked in for them all in an effort to save their fallen crew member.
“Obviously your adrenaline and your emotions take over when you realize you have a downed brother,” said Hodges. “The captain that called it, I’m sure you’ve heard some of the audio recordings that were circulating throughout social media and the media, he was very calm, cool, and collective.”
Hodges went on to say that nothing this drastic had happened in a long time during an average house fire call, with them rarely ever having to use mayday except in training. However, he said that the crews handled the situation with ease and efficiency.
“That’s when our training kicked in yesterday and I think the proficiency was just there yesterday. I think it was just basically a flawless operation that we recovered Captain Hastings with,” Hodges said.
However, Hodges added that once the adrenaline wore off after Hasting’s rescue, mental and physical exhaustion set in for the whole crew, who are now all taking some time to recover.
Besides suffering a head injury among some other injuries, Hastings currently waits out a full recovery at Charleston General Hospital.
Hodges said that the decision was made for the structure to be demolished, as there have already been numerous fires at the location in the past.
He said that fires occurring in abandoned structures is an issue that plagues the country due to them often being intentionally set in some way.
“Obviously these abandoned buildings typically do not have any utilities in them, so we know that they are going to be intentionally set. Now, when we use the word intentional, that may not be for an active crime, it may just simply be for a heating fire or a cooking fire,” Hodges said.
Hodges then added that they hope to have Captain Hastings return to the crew soon after he makes his recovery.
“Time is going to tell, he does have some significant injuries, we’re not going to release any of those details at the moment, but again, he is stable. We hope to have him back as soon as possible,” Hodges said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Charleston Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau.