Three Dallas firefighters were injured fighting a fire early Thursday.
According to Dallas-Fire Rescue, the occupant of the home has been arrested for starting the fire.
Firefighters were called to a house fire in the 2200 block of Mail Avenue near Dallas Love Field just after midnight. Officials said the occupant of the home made it out safely, but when firefighters entered through the front, they were overcome by extreme heat from a flash of flames.
"The occupancy flashed over where pretty much anything in the building that was combustible would ignite instantly. Temperatures 1,100 degrees or more," said Justin Ball, Dallas Fire Rescue assistant chief.
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The conditions forced firefighters to retreat, but one of the firefighters became disoriented. That's when officials said a mayday call was made.
"Thankfully, that team of firefighters managed to self-extricate, with the assistance of additional firefighters already on scene, and the mayday response was canceled," said DFR public information officer, Jason Evans.
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Evans credits extensive training in saving lives during the incident.
“I think what happened today speaks to a culture change that we’re trying to incorporate at the fire department….the reason that we’re so encouraged by that is because it shows us that going away are the days where firefighters feel like they can’t ask for help," said Evans. "Where they have to fight till the bitter end before they admit or acknowledge the fact that they need help. We train our members -- upon the time you know that you need help, that your lost, trapped, disoriented, confused or whatever the case may be -- that you call that mayday. And that’s exactly what they did."
Three firefighters suffered varying degrees of burn injuries and were taken to Parkland Hospital for treatment.
"Firefighting is inherently dangerous. The membership did exactly what they needed to do with their muscle memory and what to do when they get caught in a bad situation," said Dallas Fire Rescue chief Dominique Artis. "It's important that the training that we do, the mayday drills and all the drills that we go through -- this was important today."
Officials said none of the firefighters' injuries are considered life-threatening.
"They have some time to recover but we anticipate their full recovery and return to duty," said Dr. Marshal Isaacs, DFR Medical Director.
One firefighter was treated and released Thursday morning. The other two remained in the hospital most of Thursday.
"They've got some burns but it could've been a lot worse with those fire conditions," said Ball. "They had a close call. We just let them know we are there for them and provide all the assistance we can, for them and the other responding companies. The job continues -- our members step up and do what they do every day no matter what."
Evans said investigators were able to determine the occupant of the home -- 29 year old Diana Davila -- started the fire on purpose.
"She did have several interviews with fire investigators and every chance she had, she did openly admit to setting the fire with a cigarette," said Evans.
Davila was was arrested and taken to Lew Sterrett Justice Center, charged with First Degree Felony Arson.
