A Denver firefighter, injured while battling a blaze over the weekend, was upgraded to fair condition Monday.
But questions still remain over what caused eight-year veteran Sean Wendt to have trouble breathing in the midst of the basement fire and then collapse.
“My first priority is to get him well before we dive into what happened,” Denver Fire Chief Larry Trujillo said Monday.
Wendt and fellow firefighters from Station 15 were called to a fire at 2349 Poplar St. on Sunday night. The fire started in the basement, but Trujillo said Monday that investigators were still trying to determine the cause.
While fighting the fire, Wendt told other firefighters he was having trouble breathing. Firefighter John Gonzales pulled Wendt out of the home, injuring his own ankle in the process. Outside the house, Wendt collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
Doctors sedated Wendt to treat him and took Wendt out of sedation Monday. Trujillo said he talked to Wendt on the phone Monday, but Wendt was having trouble speaking.
“We’re all glad,” Trujillo said. “We don’t know when he’s going to be going home.”
Wendt, an experienced triathlete who is coaching Trujillo in swimming, has a wife and three children. His family spent the night with him at the hospital, Trujillo said.
Until Wendt can talk more, officials said they won’t know what went wrong.
Fire Department Lt. Phil Champagne said they are looking at a number of possibilities, including whether his equipment malfunctioned.
“These things aren’t fail- safe,” Champagne said. “You’re in a hostile environment. It’s part of the job.”
Wendt was wearing a new model of air mask with added safety features, and a fellow firefighter hooked Wendt up to his air tank after Wendt reported breathing trouble.
This is the third high-profile injury of a Denver firefighter this year. In May, Lt. Richard Montoya suffered smoke inhalation in a house fire and died a week later. Days earlier, firefighter Billy Green collapsed while fighting a fire after his breathing equipment failed.
In addition to Wendt’s and Gonzales’ injuries, another firefighter went to the hospital Monday morning for treatment for minor back injuries he suffered while fighting the Sunday-night fire, Trujillo said.
“When you start getting all these pages, you start getting sick,” Trujillo said of hearing the news about injured firefighters. “And you do a lot of praying.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
