Firefighter Matt Clark has only been a Volunteer Firefighter for six months, his full-time job is as a prison guard in Abilene. When one of many Texas working brush fires broke out near his home in Gorman on Friday, he answered the call with his Fire Chief and, almost instantly, they were surrounded by the fire. "At this point, we are at a dead sprint, trying to outrun the fire," Clark said. A blast of flames scarred his face with first degree burns. He suffered third degree burns to his hands. The fire truck they were on was destroyed. "It was very scary," Clark said from bed at the Parkland Memorial Hospital burn unit in Dallas. "I’m not going to lie to you; I honestly did not think I would make it home." And that’s when he saw one of his fellow firefighters collapse. "Actually, the burns weren’t even hurting that much at that time. My thought was, ‘I got to get out of here, and I got to take whoever I can with me,’" Clark said. Matt will be hospitalized for at least another week. He has skin graft surgery scheduled for Wednesday.
