JB is now stable and in good spirits. His family said he suffered second-degree burns to his legs, thighs, midsection, sides, forearms and hands.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Every day, Brooke Huddleston tells her husband to be safe before he leaves for work.
Her husband, James (JB) Huddleston responds: “always.”
She knows his job of 17 years as a Fort Worth firefighter comes with risk.
On Monday, she received the kind of phone call no spouse ever wants to receive.
“I had a feeling,” Brooke said.
When she received a phone call from the Fort Worth fire department and it wasn’t her husband on the other line, she knew something was wrong.
The crew handed the phone to JB, and he tried to calm his wife.
“He was like, Hey, just letting you know had a little incident, and we’re just going to take a ride to the hospital,” Brooke said.
Her husband, who didn’t want her to panic, downplayed the severity of his injuries.
James, who goes by JB, was injured battling a house fire in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside just before 6 p.m. on Monday.
A “mayday” was called as two firefighters jumped from the home’s second-story window. A two-alarm was then called at the home in the 1200 block of East Cannon St. Those two firefighters were injured and JB suffered severe burns.
All three firefighters were transported to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, and JB is the only one who remains in the hospital.
In an interview with WFAA on Friday, his family gave an update on his condition.
JB is now stable and in good spirits. His family said he suffered second-degree burns to his legs, thighs, midsection, sides, forearms and hands.
“It was a little bit worse than we had anticipated,” Brooke said. It’s a lot, but when you’re on the burn floor and you see what could be, you have nothing but gratitude for where we’re at. We know we’re gonna make it were gonna be okay but the biggest thing that we ask is just continued prayers.”
A mealtrain donation page has been set up to help the Huddleston family.