Chicago Paramedic Revives Retired Sergeant in Fire

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June 17--Firefighters rescued a retired police sergeant from a burning home on the West Side and resuscitated him after he suffered a heart attack, officials say.

Firefighters and paramedic Carlos Hernandez found the 62-year-old man unconscious near a first-floor bedroom of the house in the 4900 block of West Concord Place, said Chicago Fire Department Chief Sean O'Driscoll, whose crews responded to the scene.

"He didn't have any pulse and he wasn't breathing," the chief said.

A source identified the sergeant as Berklin Fowles; records show Fowles joined the police department in 1974.

Firefighters were called to the home at about noon, said Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis. When they arrived, a group of neighbors told rescuers that people trapped. Fire and heavy smoke could be seen pouring through a rear bedroom window, officials said.

The sergeant and a woman were asleep in the master bedroom on the home's second floor when the fire started. The woman met firefighters at the front door, but Fowles collapsed face down on the first floor near the bedroom, said O'Driscoll.

Hernandez said seeing someone passed out is "a scary feeling."

"We just had to do what we had to do to get him out of there," he said. "As far as I know, he's doing OK." Hernandez said.

Capt. James Rice and firefighter Jason Risley assisted in Fowles' rescue.

After the rescue, both victims were taken in serious-to-critical condition to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. The woman, described as in her late 40s to early 50s, was now listed as in good condition.

The home did not have working smoke detectors. "If there were working smoke detectors," O'Driscoll said, "he probably would have been able to get out."

The fire was under control by about 12:20 p.m., Curtis said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

dawilliams@tribune.com