Sergeant rescues man trapped in Van Buren County house fire

ANTWERP TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A man has been hospitalized after an overnight fire in Van Buren County.

Deputies were dispatched around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to a residence on 29 1/2 Street near Violet Avenue in Antwerp Township. A caller said that he was stuck in a bed that had caught fire and was unable to get himself to his wheelchair.

A Van Buren County sergeant was the first to arrive on scene and kicked down the door to get in.

“The residence was found to be filled with smoke and he was able to make his way to the back of the residence where the subject was found still in the smoldering bed,” the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement .

The sergeant carried the man through the house and out the door.

The man sustained burns to his legs and feet and suffered from smoke inhalation. He was taken to a hospital in Kalamazoo for treatment. His condition is not known. The sergeant was treated on scene for smoke inhalation.

While the fire started near the bed, investigators do not know exactly what caused it. The house suffered serious damage, with the home fully engulfed in flames within minutes after the sergeant and the victim made it out.

Crews with the Mattawan Fire Department were eventually able to put the fire out.

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