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Off-Duty Chicago Firefighter Makes High-Rise Rescue
SALLY HO
Chicago Sun Times
After lunch at Weiner Circle in Lincoln Park, off-duty firefighter Jason Durbin saw fire blowing out from the top floor of a Near North Side high-rise. So he rushed onto the scene, ran up 28 flights of stairs and carried a woman, piggyback, down the stairs.
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Firefighters controlled the blaze, which started in the woman's unit about 2 p.m. Sunday, within 15 minutes and mostly contained the fire to the 28th and 29th floors, Fire Department media affairs director Larry Langford said. No other injuries were reported.
Durbin first saw smoke on the south side of the building as he drove south on Clark.
"It didn't look right," Durbin said, so he pulled over at the 29-story building, the Bryant House at 1451 N. Sandburg Terrace, and was told there was someone in the unit. After rushing up the stairs, he found the woman, in her 50s or 60s, conscious about five to six feet from the door. "When I felt her, it was pull and go," Durbin said.
"I know it sounds cliche, but anybody in our profession would do the same thing," said Durbin, who denied being a hero.
By the time Durbin reached the 25th floor, he saw crews were on the scene, elevating the response to a second alarm, which called for 130 firefighters and paramedics.
"[Durbin] is a hero today," Fire Chief Jeffrey Springer said. "She was very fortunate and blessed to have Jason on the scene."
The 28th and 29th floors sustained extensive damage. "I feel bad for the 29th floor. That's gone," said Mona Sutaria, who lives across the hall from the injured woman.
The lower floors were basically unaffected, Langford said. Residents were allowed to return to the building about 3:20 p.m.
Margaret McIlvain said she was watching the Bears game with her 12-year-old son in their condo on the 25th floor when she heard a crash and saw windows shattering from above. She immediately ran outside with her son.
On her way out of the building, she said she ran into Durbin in the lobby.
"He asked me where the stairs were, and I propped the door open for him," McIlvain said.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
December 14, 2009
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mariah McLean Lightner on
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Way to go Jason! Another great example of why we as firefighters need to stay in shape!
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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...."that's the thing about firefighters,...day or night, they are always firefighters".
28 flights of stairs,,,,,dang. Hat's off to ya bro. Nice save.
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Permalink Reply by Trainer on
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I can only wonder if the department is praising in public and chastising in private. Off duty, probably without gear, not a wise thing to do. I can only hope I'm wrong.
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Funny, I was thinking the same thing. And what are the chances that others seeing this footage will think, Hey, if he can do it, then so can I. Last thing we need is extra victems ( or is it victIms).
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I can only wonder if the department is praising in public and chastising in private. Off duty, probably without gear, not a wise thing to do. I can only hope I'm wrong.
Can't say what's going on for sure, however, there is a difference between the lay person doing such a thing and an off duty FF and that difference is training. Same thing when cops may make such a grab and such too, while it is part of their job, most don't have the proper training. A FF, should still know the importance of shutting doors, staying low and so forth.
Personally I think it would be hard to chastise such a rescue. It is one thing if the FD was already on scene and this guy still ran in, or if the FD was coming around the corner and he still ran in type of thing, but he was on the 25th floor when he noticed crews were on scene. As for PPE, yeah he doesn't have it on, but he is also off duty, this isn't like he was responding on duty and decided he could rush up and make a grab without PPE.
I think it would be a tough thing to chastise such a rescue. Not long ago I had a thread about police doing similar things, but the difference is that it comes to training and if there is one thing that should be addressed, but seldom seen, is to note that this person DOES have training, vs the avg citizen, who thinks they can do the same thing. It is risk/ benefit, he should still know the risks and understand that despite his efforts, it may not work, vs the avg citizen rushing in with no clue of fire behavior and become a victim themselves.
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You make good points John. And he was right when saying in the interview, that we all would do the same thing. We, through training, know the dangers involved and have also been taught the risk vs. gain theory. Risk a lot to save a lot, Which is what he did. And, as you say, he did have training vs. the average citizen, and he was off duty, so he had no gear.
Either way, congrats still go out to him for his actions. I'm still concerned about the monkey see monkey do syndrome.
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This guy did a great thing but the fact remains he entered a burning building with no PPE or tools, his training should have told him how stupid that was. A phrase like “risk a lot to save a lot” needs to be cut from the fire service, risks are taken but to do what he did more then warrants an ass chewing in my book. The one big issue here is did the end justify the means.
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fact remains he entered a burning building with no PPE or tools, his training should have told him how stupid that was. A phrase like “risk a lot to save a lot” needs to be cut from the fire service, risks are taken but to do what he did more then warrants an ass chewing
I would say "Risk a lot to save alot" while not entirely cut out, has been modified to better promote a risk/ benefit size up. Save "alot" can really vary, instead you tend to see more along the lines of "A calculated risk to save a savable life", "a calculated risk to save savable property", "we do not risk ourselves for what is already lost".
I think you do see more emphasis placed on size up and looking at conditions, asking where a victim may be or location of stairs etc, who really is "my baby" a human or animal and so forth. I think you see a greater emphasis placed on building construction knowledge and that rushing into a structure isn't promoted like it once was.
As for this incident, I can not nor will not fault this FF for saving a life, nor do I feel it warrants an ass chewing. There is missing information to even say this could or even should warrant an ass chewing, it states the FF located the conscious woman about 5 or six feet from the door. What door? aparment door? hallway door? "When he FELT her, it was pull and go".....leads me to believe he encountered smoke, but had he not gone up, could she have made it? She was conscious when found, but would she really have the time to wait for the on duty FF's in PPE?
Yeah, he didn't have on PPE, but the risk he took did result in a save, even if the victim was on her way down. We don't know the circumstances for sure, we don't know the size up that he encountered, it is a large building and a higher potential for injuries and fatalities, he has training and should understand risks involved and he saved a life. Isn't that our job? Do we only respond when on duty? Does our training and knowledge only come into play when at work or on duty? Not too long ago two OFF-DUTY Milwaukee FF's rescued a toddler froma van fire (video on youtube)...no PPE, they didn't wait for the on duty crews, but they rescued the boy and he is still alive. Maybe the prudent thing would be to stand aside while someone dies, but is that the moral thing to do?
While I don't condone a "monkey see monkey do" approach, I can't see a reason to ass chew either. We have training and knowledge and took an oath to protect the public...why not us? Is it better for the lay person with NO training to risk their lives unknowingly while we stand by and watch? What is the moral and ethical thing to do?
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Ya know John your right, I'm only speculating, maybe why it took me an hour to write my last comment, did a lot of deleting and re-writing. Maybe he went up to help with evacuation, opened the door and bingo, then gave a good size-up to his buddies on the way down, doing what he did is in all of us. Way to much unknown here to make a snap judgment as I did, it's just hard to get that picture out of my head, you know...adrenalin junkie, freelancing, maybe it's my age. Anyways I like your idea on risk, how about “calculated risk to save”
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