Kenner, La. -
A Kenner man calls firefighters heroes for saving his home. They did it as Hurricane Isaac roared onto shore.
It happened in Kenner's Woodlake Subdivision in the middle of the night. Al Adams says, in the afternoon of August 28, he was watching more than the churning lake in his backyard. He shot cell phone video of a power pole teetering by his storage shed.
"The transformer's on it and if the transformer blows it's going to light the house up," he said. "There's no way we can extinguish the fire."
As winds picked up, Adams knew there was nothing the power company could do. "We had all the bags packed and had all the cars ready to get out fast!" he said.
Around 11:00 p.m., the pole fell and fire spread from the transformer to the shed, threatening his house.
"I'm on the phone with 911 saying we have a fire, you have to get the fire department out here."
He got his family out, and his cell phone captured the massive flames and high winds.
Captain Kevin Dunn was one of the first on the scene. "One of our operators was pumping and he couldn't even put his mask on, there was so much smoke blowing on him," Dunn said.
Kenner Fire Chief John Hellmers says the department was fully staffed with extra firefighters for the storm. Had it been any other day? "We definitely would have lost multiple houses," he said.
The crews kept the fire from spreading to the Adams home.
"The only thing I care about is that no one got hurt. Then we've done our job," said Capt. Dan Lanier.
