An early morning fire at 109 Pike Road in Selma left one occupant and a member of the Selma Fire Department with injuries.

Selma Fire Chief Mike Stokes said firefighter Brandon Collins, 21, sustained a broken arm and leg when he became entangled in a fire hose. Collins was in surgery Thursday morning at Vaughan Regional Medical Center. The severity of the injuries to the occupant, who was also transported to Vaughan, were unknown.

The fire occurred around 3:27 a.m., Stokes said.

“Upon arriving at the scene there was smoke and flames visible,” he said. “As far as the occupant goes at this time, I do not know the nature of the injuries.”

Collins, Stokes said, sustained a broken right leg and right arm. He was injured establishing a hose connection to the fire hydrant when the fire truck pulled forward and the hose caught him.

“It was just a freak accident involving the fire hose,” Stokes said. “It’s a bizarre accident. From the time you are hired on you are given war stories about the injuries you could sustain if something were to happen and then it happened. It’s one of those things that may not ever happen again.

“It was a freak accident and there’s really no other way to describe it,” he said. “All the precautions are taken to ensure nothing like this happens, but it’s like anything else.”

Collins has been with the department for six months, Stokes said, and has a bright future.

“He’s a super guy and a really good firefighter,” he said.

Though the injuries are serious, Stokes said Collins is expected to recover.

“This is part of the job,” he said. “We’re very fortunate and blessed that he has not sustained any life-threatening injuries. He’s going to have a long road to recovery and a lot of rehab.”

The surgery was expected to take around three hours to repair the broken leg.

“Hopefully we’ll have good news,” Stokes said. “We’re hoping for a full recovery.”

Firefighters battled the blaze until about 6:45 a.m., Stokes said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.