WATERLOO - A Waterloo woman was seriously injured in a early-morning blaze Saturday, in what Waterloo Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Mike Junk calls one of the busiest nights in 25 years.

Waterloo Fire Rescue responded to five fire-related calls and a one car accident between 8 p.m. Friday and 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The most serious being a house fire Saturday at 1573 Woodmayr Drive, which started just before 1:30 a.m.

Freda Lynn Johnson, 42, was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City due to severe burns on her arms and face and a burned throat, authorities said. Hospital officials said no condition update was available.

Michele Clark, a neighbor across the street, was the first person to respond to Johnson's pleas for help after her and her grandson escaped from the burning house. Clark, who also reported the fire, stayed with Johnson until paramedics arrived.

"It scared me. I've never seen someone's skin falling off before," Clark said. "I remember her saying, 'I knew you would hear me. God wouldn't let you not hear me.'"

Clark said Johnson saved her six-year-old grandson, Deshon Johnson Jr., known as D.J., by pushing him through a living room window. Johnson then crawled out.

Clark said her husband, Bill, took D.J. from the scene for his safety while she stayed with Johnson.

"We brought D.J. to my house, got him cleaned up and clean clothes. He kept asking how is (grand) mom was doing," Clark said Saturday. (The fire) is something I can't get out of my mind. I still have goose bumps."

Deshon wasn't burned, but he was transported to Allen Hospital in Waterloo as a precautionary measure, officials said.

Junk said the fire started in the basement of the ranch home in the electric panel. Electricians cut power lines to the home and firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Flames ravaged the basement and back wall of the house, while the rest of the home sustained heavy smoke damage. The home is not inhabitable and will need extensive reconstruction.

Firefighters were recalled to the home again at 6:30 a.m. when flames were spotted on the roof. Junk said a wire on the power pole was crossed, back feeding electricity into the house through a guy wire. A spark from an exposed wire ignited the second blaze.

"The scariest part was our fire marshal was touching the (electric) box," Junk said.

Neighbor Jamie Bahe just hopes Johnson recovers.

"She's a very nice lady. She always waved," he said.

Besides the two Woodmayr Drive calls, other general alarms included:

A fire at Manor Care, 201 W. Ridgeway Ave. Firefighters responded at 8:23 p.m. to a fire in a shower room. The facility's sprinkler system extinguished the flames. Junk said a hair dryer was to blame.

Firefighters were called to 1218 Edgewood Drive for a house fire at 11:03 p.m. No one was hurt, but the house and contents sustained $75,000 in damage, Junk said. Improperly extinguished cigarettes caused the blaze, he said.

Firefighters were called to 145 Michigan Drive in Elk Run Heights at 5:11 a.m. Occupants thought they heard "a sizzling noise" in the crawl space. It was a good faith false alarm, Junk said.

Ten minutes later, emergency workers responded to a single-vehicle rollover at Highway 218 and Greenhill Road. "The guy shouldn't have walked away from that one," Junk said.

Friday night and early Saturday was probably the second busiest 10 1/2-hour stretch during 25 years with the department, Junk said.

"One fire is taxing, but to go to multiple fires, you start to run out of steam," Junk said. "It definitely wears you out going from one fire to the next."

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.