SPRINGFIELD — A firefighter with the Springfield Fire Division was accidentally shot during a house fire around 4 p.m. Thursday.
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News Center 7′s Malik Patterson spoke with the injured fireman, Captain John Pirk, about his experience.
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According to the department, there was a person in the home who was rescued by firefighters. The person was transported to a local hospital with burns.
As crews worked to extinguish the fire, Pirk was struck by a bullet. The gun discharged due to the fire, the department says.
“I had the adrenaline going pretty good. I know I felt something pretty quick, but we still had quite a job to do,” Pirk said.
The bullet hit Pirk’s padding and elbow, but he didn’t realize he had been shot until another firefighter talked about a gun that was in the house.
“Maybe I need to at least have somebody look at my elbow real quick,” Pirk said.
Pirk was released from the hospital quickly, and he wanted to go back to work.
“I don’t want to let the guys to the left and right of me down,” Pirk said.
Situations like this don’t happen often, Springfield Fire Chief Jacob King says.
“It’s actually extremely rare for a firearm to go off from a fire event,” King said.
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