MILWAUKEE - Firefighter Anthony Rueda and Captain Theodore Stribling went into the burning building together. No matter what, that's how they were coming out. "You never leave a firefighter behind. No matter what, you do everything you can until your last breath to get him out with you,” Rueda said. Early Thursday morning, the fireman had to put that motto to work. Rueda sensed trouble right away as they entered the burning building at 2nd and Meinecke. He says the “floor just felt squishy.” Then it gave way, sending them falling into the basement. "It's a very scary feeling knowing that the floor that you're supposed to be standing on is gone,” he told Lauren Leamanczyk. But Rueda didn't have time to be scared. As he crashed into the basement, a stairway collapsed on top of him. Rueda called out for his captain. No response. Stribling was unconscious. "I'm thinking if the first floor came down that easy, then the second floor could come down and then the house has to be coming down soon,” he recalls. Rueda grabbed Stribling and dragged him out of the building to the rescue units. He credits his training and the work of other firefighters with getting them out alive. Both men were injured, but will recover. Stribling was released from the hospital Thursday night. Rueda says he's grateful it wasn't his time. But while he's reminded that life is fragile, this firefighter won't think twice about running into another burning building. “I eat, sleep and breathe firefighting. I grew up with it. I think it's the greatest thing in the world. I can't see myself doing anything else."