CALLAWAY — A firefighter was hospitalized Friday morning after suffering heat exhaustion while battling a major house fire in Callaway.
Fire crews from Callaway, Springfield, Parker, Bay County and Panama City responded to the fire in the 6600 block of Fox Lake Drive shortly after 10:30 a.m. The two-story home was showing heavy black smoke, according to Callaway Fire Department Chief David Joyner, and the fire was spreading.
“It slowly progressed while we were inside,” Joyner said. “Basically the upper half of the roof got fully involved.”
Firefighters were forced to change from an offensive to defensive strategy as the fire spread. The fire was knocked down about noon. Heat from the blaze melted the vinyl siding of a home next door, but no other damage to that residence occurred.
The 47-year-old firefighter who suffered heat exhaustion was able to walk himself to an ambulance, Joyner said, and was taken to a hospital. He is expected to be released Friday night. No other injuries were reported.
A man who lived at the home was upset and said his five children were going to return from school to find nothing left. He did not give his name. The home is likely a “total loss,” Joyner said.
The Callaway Fire Department and State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the blaze. Investigators believe the fire originated in the kitchen.
News Herald writer Chris Olwell contributed to this report.