A Parker County man is hospitalized after video shows firefighters rescuing him from a burning mobile home.
Emergency officials said it happened near 14000 Briar Road in Azle at about 9 a.m. on Saturday. Investigators said the victim, identified by neighbors as Tim Nicholson, was left with burns on more than 50 percent of his body.
On Sunday, Tim Nicholson's Azle mobile home bore the scars of a disaster; the front porch and siding were burnt away, and a scorched trail of damage led inside.
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It had been more than 24 hours since neighbor Tommy Johnson first realized something was wrong.
“Sounded like a crackling, like a crackling popping, popping, popping,” Johnson told NBC 5. “So then I went to the window and saw it, and woke my family up and called 911.”
On Saturday morning, a fire broke out on the house's front porch. Body camera video provided by Parker County emergency officials showed firefighters trying to beat back the flames.
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Once inside the house, they began searching through the pitch-black smoke with flashlights while neighbors outside could only watch and hope.
“Scared, wondering if anyone was in there or anything,” Johnson said. “Just hoping they would get here in time to put it out.”
Moments later, rescuers can be seen locating Nicholson, who was trapped inside the home.
Firefighters carried Nicholson to safety, and he was later airlifted to Parkland Hospital with significant burns.
Investigators haven’t released the cause of the fire. People close to Nicholson said before the incident, he was already paralyzed on one side of his body from a stroke.
They said he’d have a lengthy recovery after this high-stakes rescue.
“It’s very sad, it’s terrible, especially right after the Fourth of July,” Johnson said.
