A fire in Prince George’s County in Maryland nearly kills two firefighters. An account of how it happened:
“With temperatures climbing past 1,000 degrees, the shield on his helmet curled, and the liner inside his protective coat melted. His protective mask was so badly damaged that an analysis later concluded that it was on the verge of ‘immediate failure.’
“‘Everything was hot, everything was burning,’ O’Toole said. ‘It got hotter and hotter and hotter until the point where you just didn’t want to breathe anymore.’ Each breath he took ‘felt like someone was cutting your throat.’
“Outside, Sorrell was crying for help, desperate to save his friend. ‘Come on! Get that line in there!’ he shrieked, a bloodcurdling sound captured on a helmet-mounted video camera worn by a Riverdale firefighter. ‘My guy’s in there! Go!’”
