By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Fire Chief Robert Wright talks to media about the death of firefighter Oscar Armstrong III, killed during a Bond Hill three-alarm fire Friday. Cincinnati City Manager Valerie Lemmie is at left. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

Cincinnati firefighters were in mourning Friday when, for the first time in more than 22 years, one of their brethren was killed in the line of duty.

Oscar Armstrong III, 25, lost his life in a burst of flame Friday morning, minutes after responding to a three-alarm fire inside a Bond Hill home at 1131 Laidlaw Ave.

Armstrong was on a hose line when the fire "flashed" over him. A "flashover" occurs when the atmosphere inside a burning building becomes superheated to the point that there is an eruption of flames that consumes things in the room.

Two other firefighters in the house with Armstrong suffered minor injuries. Wylene Brown, 50, injured his hip diving through a window to get out of the house and Paul Freeman, 32, suffered burns to his right ear. Both were treated and released from University Hospital.

It is unclear how Armstrong got out of the house, but he was found lying in the side yard of the house with the outer layer of his turnout gear burned off. He was below a window with a screen broken out. A colleague performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and firefighters started chest compressions before Armstrong was taken away by a rescue squad. He was pronounced dead at 9:28 a.m.

At a press conference Friday afternoon, Mayor Charlie Luken said the entire city should "offer a prayer" to the Armstrong family.

"When that young man went into that fire, he took a little piece of all of us with him," Luken said. "When he fell, we fell with him."

Armstrong leaves behind two sons, ages 5 and 6, and a pregnant fiancee. He had been a firefighter since January 2000.

Funeral and memorial service arrangements have not been finalized.

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com