Humboldt firemen honored after saving man from burning home

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. — The City of Humboldt on Monday honored the firemen who recently rescued a man from his burning home.

According to the fire chief, who was first on the scene, they arrived to find a man physically unable to get out of the house as a grease fire in the kitchen began to spread.

“I decided to go on and fight the fire, to keep the fire from spreading because it was going to take several people to get the person out,” Humboldt Fire Chief Chester Owens said.

It took firefighters about 20 minutes to get the blaze under control as the man remained inside.

Lt. Jackie McClanton gave up his air supply to help the man breathe. McClanton was sent to the hospital due to the amount of smoke he inhaled.

“Fella sitting there, sitting on his bed. We couldn’t help him like we normally would in other situations, so we had to give him air while we make other decisions to get him out,” Lt. McClanton said.

The firemen eventually had to knock out part of the front wall to make room to get the man out of the house.

Even though these Humboldt firemen will be honored by the city for saving this man from his burning home, they say risking their life is just a part of the job.

“It’s just my job,” Lt. McClanton said. “It’s just a part of my job — an everyday thing. I don’t look at myself as a hero, never will.”

The fire chief says the man is now doing fine.

“But that’s what we do,” Chief Owens said. “We will give our mask away to save a life.”

According to the Humboldt fire chief, he didn’t hear any working smoke detectors in the home.