Durham firefighter shares photos of second-degree burns, charred equipment

A Durham firefighter who suffered serious burns on Friday while battling a large blaze said he has been told by multiple people they can't believe he is alive.

According to the Durham Fire Department, two firefighters were injured around 4 p.m. Friday while battling a house fire on South Bend Drive.

As firefighters entered the home, the roof collapsed, injuring two of them. Donald Dixon, one of the firefighters, was taken to the hospital with burns. The other was treated on site.

Emergency crews said they witnessed a woman escaping the burning house by jumping out a window, but all residents inside the home made it outside before the roof collapsed.

During a search of the house, a roof collapsed on Dixon, setting his gear on fire and melting his thermal imager and radio.

Dixon shared photos of his charred helmet and uniform. He also shared photos of his injuries, including puncture wounds and second-degree burns.

According to the Firefighter Rescue Network, which organized the fundraiser, Dixon was able to crawl through flames to an escape opening that firefighters created for him.

Dixon was transported to the UNC Burn Center with serious burns, blunt force trauma and puncture wounds, according to a GoFundMe created to help his family's medical expenses.

Dixon is back home and in the care of his wife, and neither have been able to work while he recovers, organizers said. The GoFundMe, which raised $3,750 as of Wednesday evening, will help the family with medical expenses and loss of income.

According to the Firefighter Rescue Network, all funds will go directly to Dixon. Any unused contributions will be used to help other burn victims.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Doctor pulls woman from burning home, treats firefighter hurt at scene

Dr. Abhi Mehrotra not only helped pull a woman from from the fire last week in Durham last week, he also treated Dixon at the scene.

Mehrotra said he is used to facing emergencies.

"It was just surprising how quickly it happened," Mehrotra said.

Mehrotra serves as the assistant medical director of the emergency department at UNC Medical Center. He was talking his dog Friday when he noticed smoke coming from the Durham home along South Bend Drive.

"It just didn’t seem right," Mehrotra said. "Another neighbor was already calling 911."

Mehrotra went to the front door, and found a neighbor still inside. He said it took some coaxing to get her to leave.

"I really had to convince her. [I said,] 'You need to leave right now. Either open the door, let’s get you out,'" Mehrotra said. "And, she couldn’t open the door, so we had a conversation and had to kind of help and pull and assist her out that front window, as the firefighters were arriving."

Mehrotra stayed until he was sure the paramedics could take over. Then, he had to get to work, where he was in for another surprise.

"As it turns out, one of the firefighters that was injured was one of my patients, as I arrived," Mehrotra said.

At the hospital, Mehrotra treated one of the two firefighters injured.

On Wednesday, both firefighters are recovering.Mehrotra has had time to reflect.

"It's a little sureal," Mehrotra said. "We’re trained to assist in the situation. When there’s a patient in front of us, we go towards that patient.

"This was just a matter of following instinct. There was no real time to think "