An off-duty firefighter who rescued an Omaha man from his burning home Sunday morning said he was just glad to be in the right place at the right time.
Phil Lopez, a 16-year veteran of the Omaha Fire Department, said he was driving to a gym about 7:10 a.m. after ending his shift when he saw smoke and flames coming from a home at 1302 Madison St. in South Omaha. Lopez called 911 and approached the house to alert the residents.
“I looked through the bay window and saw a man resting on the couch,” Lopez said. “I started banging on the door and window to get him up. Then I told him to come outside with me.”
The man, Mike Johnson, was alone and got out safely. Lopez, 47, stayed on the phone with 911 until firefighters arrived from his station at 16th and Spring Streets.
“This is the first time that I ever had to call in a house fire on my day off,” Lopez said. “The funny thing is that the house is in my station's area, so if it had been called in a few minutes earlier, I would have been responding to put the fire out.”
Taira Jones, who was working at the house at midday, said Johnson is the nephew of the home's owner, who died about a year ago. She said Johnson was staying in the home because of recent vandalism.
“Thank God that the firefighter came by when he did, because Mike probably would have tried to put the fire out by himself,” Jones said. “All I can say is thank God.”
Assistant Fire Marshal Jim Gentile, a spokesman for the Omaha Fire Department, said the fire had spread from a wood-burning fireplace and run up the chimney into the attic. A preliminary damage report said the house, valued at $62,500, was a total loss. There were no smoke detectors in the home.
“As a fireman, you always hear about other guys doing the same thing and you wonder how you would do,” Lopez said.
“Basically I'm just glad I could be there and that no one was hurt. That's what everyone (at the fire department) hopes for.”
Monday, at his station, No. 3, at 16th and Spring Streets, Lopez said "I was prepared to go in'' and save Johnson. "But he took orders and understood to get out of there.''
"As a firefighter, you don't want to be a casualty yourself, another person they (firefighters) have to look for.''
After informing fellow firefighters that the home's lone occupant was safely out, Lopez said he went on to his gym in Bellevue, ate breakfast with his parents and then headed home near 48th and Vinton Streets, where he helped his daughter, Andrea, 11, with her new computer.
He said he had her call up Omaha.com, where she, her brother, Alex, 16, and their mother, Teresa, learned of his exploits.
"No, I really don't consider myself a hero,'' Lopez added. "Any good citizen would have stopped to help.''
Lopez said he's been in rescue situations before with his fire unit but not alone.
"And I hope it's the last,'' he said about Sunday's rescue.
World-Herald staff writer Jay Withrow contributed to this report.
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