Delaware Firefighter Critically Injured While Fighting Blaze Released From Hospital

CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A firefighter critically injured while fighting a fire last month in Delaware is now out of the hospital. Twenty-three-year-old Dave Smiley Jr. was greeted by fellow firefighters as he was released from Crozer-Chester Medical Center Friday.

Smiley, a rescue captain for the Minquas Fire Company, was badly burned on March 14. He fell through the second floor of a burning home on Mill Creek Road in Mill Creek, Delaware.

"My adrenaline was pumping the entire time, so not an incredible amount of pain but I could feel it, I knew what was going on the entire time," Smiley said. "I knew I was gonna make it out, but I also knew there was going to be injuries that come from it."

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"I love it, I would never question not firefighting again. I've talked to the doctors and I know that I can get back to it one day and that's the plan," he said.

After leaving the hospital, Smiley was escorted to the Good Will Fire Company for a barbecue in his honor.

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