Spencer Tejedas suffered severe burns to nearly half his body and has undergone several surgeries and skin grafts on both his arms and right thigh.
GRESHAM, Ore. — Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis gave an update on the firefighter seriously injured back on May 30. Firefighter Spencer Tejedas ran into a burning building to save what he thought was a teenager inside. Now, he remains hospitalized at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in critical condition.
“This is certainly an outlier in my career and in the firefighting community,” said Lewis.
Chief Lewis adds this is the worst firefighter injury he has seen in his over 40-year career, with Tejedas sustaining burns to over 45% of his body.
“Over that period of time, I’ve had firefighters get hurt, but none as bad as Spencer,” said Lewis. “One or two have been admitted to a burn ward for a few days, but nothing more than a week.”
Since being transported to the hospital, Tejedas has been intubated and undergone three surgeries on his burns including skin grafts to both his arms and right thigh.
“We had what’s called a flashover, where everything in the structure catches on fire at one time,” said Lewis. “And Spencer was still inside — as were other firefighters when that happened.”
At the time, Lewis said, three firefighters were injured while searching for a teen with disabilities who may have been inside. That is when Tejedas and two other firefighters jumped into action — all to find out no one was home.
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Lewis believes Tejedas’s skin was burnt from the heat around him and not directly from the flames. Now, the department is looking into what exactly took place and ways they can prevent this from happening in the future.
“You know there is risk. We tried to mitigate the risk as best we can,” said Lewis. “We buy the very best fire-protective clothing for our firefighters that’s available on the market and sometimes even the best is not good enough.”
While Tejedas’s firefighter family continues to show support any way they can — Lewis has this message to him and his family:
“Take care of yourself, brother,” said Lewis. “We are here for you. We are here for his family. We have reached out. We are there every day, and we are always a phone call away. We have a responsibility to support Spencer in his recovery and support his family during this time as well.”
An unattended candle was found to be the cause for starting the fire.
A Gofundme page started for Tejedas and his family has already raised nearly $200,000.
Chief Lewis said anyone interested in writing a letter of encouragement to the family can drop it off at Station 71 or mail it to 1333 Northwest Eastman Parkway in Gresham.