A routine fire call at a vacant house in East Fort Worth quickly turned potentially deadly for two firefighters early Wednesday morning.
Captain Ryan Zelazny and another firefighter and longtime friend Clint Robinson were in the attic when the roof collapsed. Meanwhile, on the ground floor, one firefighter suffered burns to his legs and feet.
Robinson was not responding.
“The hardest part is seeing the guy that you live with and do everything with daily at the fire station not moving,” Zelazny said.
Through the smoke and flames, Zelazny and his team lifted the roof off of Robinson and finally heard him call out.
“A weight was lifted,” Zelazny said. “I can’t explain in words what it felt like.”
Robinson and the other injured firefighter are expected to make full recoveries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“It was probably the roughest thing I’ve ever had to witness,” Zelazny said. “The roof came down and pinned him.”
Zelazny calls it one of the lowest points in nearly two decades on the job. Zelazny began his career as a firefighter in Texas just one month after the 9/11 terror attacks.
“It gave me a reality check early on that catastrophes do happen,” Zelazny said.
In the east Fort Worth attic, 19 years later, the person in need was one of his own…not just a firefighter but a man he considers family.
“Clint is an awesome guy,” Zelazny said. “Clint actually lived a couple of blocks away from us, growing up.”
The tragic event cemented what can happen on a firefighter’s worst day but also what needs to be done every day.
“Helping people that are in need,” Zelazny said.