PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – A firefighter who was seriously hurt during a Gresham duplex fire in late May spoke about his ordeal for the first time Thursday afternoon.
Firefighter Spencer Tejedas spent months recovering at the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center after the fire broke out on SE 182nd Avenue and Madison Way on May 30.
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Firefighters at the scene had been told a child with disabilities was trapped inside a bedroom. However, when three firefighters – including Tejedas – entered the duplex, the teen was safely outside the home.
Tejedas and crew member Jack Pilarski then got caught in the middle of a flash fire — when all the flammable material in the area simultaneously exploded.
“All the sudden, I get this unsettling feeling in my stomach and just the heat over all else, overcame me on the back of my neck I just knew it was bad,” Tejedas recalled. “The last thing I remember is [Jack] coming towards me and just fire.”