3 Aurora Firefighters Recovering After Amazing Escape

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - An explosion sent three firefighters to the hospital while battling a house fire on South Biscay Way near Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora on Thursday night.

The firefighters are now home and recovering. They went inside the home to keep a chimney fire from spreading. They could've poured water from the outside, but their job is to save property. In taking the aggressive approach, they experienced a rare event that could've killed them.

A chimney fire, may not sound so dangerous.

"It wasn't a loud boom; it was a very deep whoosh of air," Cpt. Mike Stanley said.

Stanley would be amazed -- three of Aurora's bravest survived a rare backdraft.

"Based on the just catastrophic explosion, based on the magnitude, in my career I had never seen anything quite like that," Stanley said.

A captain, a paramedic and a female firefighter were attempting to reach the attic to keep the chimney fire from spreading.

"Most firefighters could work their entire career and never see this event," Stanley said.

A backdraft explosion happens when oxygen is re-introduced to an oxygen starved environment. The firefighters were about 30 feet away when the chimney exploded.

"We are trained extensively throughout our careers about how to recognize those warning signs, but we didn't see any of those signs present."

All three were blasted to the floor with the ceiling collapsing on top of them. But they would not retreat. They found their fire hose and went back on the attack.

"You know it was free burning above their heads at that point," Stanley said. "I remember seeing fire blow out of both sides of the building."

Fire personnel were almost certain, one, or all had died.

"So when they came out it was just a tremendous relief for all of us to see them standing and walking out under their own power."

The Aurora Fire Department is not releasing the names of their fire personnel. All three of them are in their late 30s and are probably going to be nominated for a service award.

The family that lives at the home escaped the fire without getting hurt.