Centralia City Firemen say a furnace repairman apparently suffered a heart attack after something went wrong with repairs and the furnace caught fire.
The fireman was outside the Carl Heinrichsmeyer home in the 300 block of Leafland Drive when firefighters arrived on the scene. They provided CPR and shocked the man twice before he regained consciousness. He was reportedly talking to Lifestar Ambulance crews by the time he was taken to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. The man was later transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon and at least report he was still doing well.
With the fire and medical emergency, all available Centralia City Firemen and the Centralia Fire Protection District were called to the scene while Sandoval was called to cover the Centralia Fire Station in the event of another fire.
Centralia Firemen say they quickly put out the fire, but there was heavy damage to the furnace. Firemen report moderate smoke damage in both the basement and upstairs living area. They ejected smoke from the home.
The cause of the fire in the furnace was not immediately known.
The fire call came in at 4:22 Monday afternoon. Firemen were on the scene for about an hour.
Earlier in the day, Centralia City Firemen were called to stand by at a natural gas leak in the 500 block of East McCord caused by a crew installing fiber optic cable. Firemen assisted in directing traffic away from the leak. It was repaired about an hour later by Ameren crews.
Centralia Firemen fight a fire in a basement furnace on Leafland Street Monday afternoon. Photo by Tim Ferguson.
