Firefighters rescue electrician trapped in Liberty Memorial

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An electrician who sucked air through electrical conduit while a fire burned at the Liberty Memorial on Tuesday says he knew he'd be rescued.

"I knew I'd get out. I knew people knew about it," said Marvin Hammontree, minutes after firefighters helped him climb out of the Liberty Memorial tower.

Fire department spokesman Germaine Friends said damage from the apparent electrical fire was minimal, and it was extinguished quickly.

But the fire filled the World War I memorial with smoke, sending two other workers scrambling 25 feet up the narrow stairs to the tower's ground floor. But by the time Hammontree's turn came to climb the stairs, the smoke was too thick to get to the top.

So the 61-year-old from Overland Park, Kan., waited below, and found the conduit -- a piece of tubing that holds electrical wires -- in advance, just in case. Hammontree said he took several breaths through the tube before fire Capts. Todd Akerson and Steve Davis reached him about 20 minutes later. Akerson then shared his breathing equipment with Hammontree.

The 1919 memorial is the largest World War I memorial in the country. It closed in 1994 after years of neglect, but it is now being refurbished and a museum is planned for the site.