Father dies in house fire; son rescued from building; one firefighter injured

Published 10:54 am Friday, February 10, 2017

A 58-year-old Austin man died in a house fire on the 1500 block of 29th Avenue Southwest on Thursday, but Austin firefighters were able to save his son, who was trying to escape the home through a downstairs window.

Michael James Langan, whose 59th birthday would have been today, was found deceased in the kitchen of the home.

His son, Dakota Langan, 19, had broken out an east bedroom window on the south side of the home when firefighters, assisted by Austin police officers, finished breaking out the window and pulled him to safety, according to Austin Fire Chief Jim McCoy. The teen was transported by Gold Cross Ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin with smoke-related injuries. His condition was unknown Friday morning or whether he had been released.

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McCoy said a firefighter, who was not identified, was also treated for injuries at the hospital, and was released. He said the injuries were not due to either smoke or burns, but did not elaborate.

According to a report from Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi, Dakota Langan called dispatchers at 7:38 p.m. on Thursday, saying the house was on fire and that his dad was suffering burns. It is suspected that blaze began as a cooking fire, said McCoy, but that has yet to be confirmed by a state fire marshal, who was on the scene Thursday night. His investigation was still being conducted on Friday, McCoy said.

The fire, McCoy said, was knocked down fairly quickly and the scene cleared at about 10 p.m., although a crew stayed on site to make sure it remained secure. The home is located just outside the city limits, and suffered smoke and fire damage.

Austin had no fire-related deaths in 2016, but there were two fire fire-related fatality 2015, on Thanksgiving and Christmas.