A man suffered life-threatening injuries after fire broke out in the kitchen of his home near 17th and Nebraska Parkway around 3:40 Thursday morning. LFR Public Information Officer MJ Lierman says an NSP Capitol Security officer on patrol in the area saw smoke coming from the neighborhood.
He and a Nebraska State Patrol trooper broke through the locked front door of the smoke filled house and found the man on the kitchen floor. He was unconscious and the two carried the man outside. According to a patrol spokesman the trooper detected a pulse and shallow breathing.
Lierman tells KLIN News it appears the man tried to put the fire out himself. He is in critical condition at St. Elizabeth Hospital.
The Capitol security officer went back inside and rescued a dog. Lierman says two other dogs died in the fire. That officer was checked at the scene for smoke inhalation. Lierman says food left cooking on the stove started the fire and caused about $175,000 damage. There were no working smoke detectors in the house.