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Child rescued from house fire
Thursday Afternoon, January 17, 2008 @ 15:20 the tones fell for a structure fire. One story, single family wood frame dwelling. The first engine on the scene was East Spencer Engine 472 with Engineer/Firefighter Josh Smith behind the wheel. Josh had seen the smoke before the call came in and he immediately responded on to the location. He had been moving the engine from the annex building to the engine house. There had been inclement weather Wednesday Night and Thursday and there had been an engine kept in both buildings. The house is about one block from the station, so Josh went directly to the location. Josh gave a size up upon arrival with heavy smoke showing and working fire conditions. He was preparing to do a 360 when he noticed a woman on the front porch that was screened in. She wa hold 2 small children in her arms. Josh ask her if everyone was out. That is when she noticed that her oldest son, Vern who is 4 was no longer on the porch. He had followed him mom back in when she went in to get the other children. She told Josh my son is in there. Josh ran in and found the child in the front room which just happened to be the fire room as well. Josh picked him up and came back out with him. The second engine arrived with an On Duty BC J.C. Russell and Off Duty BC R. Shrack on board. with weather conditions being bad there was an abundance of personnel at the station. A water supply was established by Engine 471 and fire attack was handled by the same. Josh was told to operate 471 which he did. Russell and Shrack started an aggresive fire attack and had a quick knock down and held the fire to the fire room and the attic above. The fire appeared to have started in and around the chimney of the house. Firefighters from Union VFD Millers Ferry VFD, assisted in the call. The Rowan County Rescue Squad provided rehad and air supply with MASS Unit. The Salisbury Fire Department sent a thermal imager per request. The Rowan County Fire Marshal's Officer handled investigation, the East Spencer Police Department handled crowd and traffic control.
Josh was recognized for a great job, but insisted that he wasn't anything special. and really not a hero, that he was just doing his job. We told him maybe so, but look at what could have happened. East Spencer in located in Rowan County in NC.
Josh was recognized for a great job, but insisted that he wasn't anything special. and really not a hero, that he was just doing his job. We told him maybe so, but look at what could have happened. East Spencer in located in Rowan County in NC.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Heroic actions indeed, but going against everything we have ever trained (2 in 2 out) he is more so lucky. It is hard to make a rational decision when faced with this situation up front, but think of it this way. If the situation had occured and firefighter Smith had become a LODD would we be praising his heroism? Use your training for what it is good for, saving lives while at the same time SAVING YOUR OWN.
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Permalink Reply by cap479 on
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I am very aware, and so is he. But also states that two in two out is looked over is someone is inside. Because as soon as I got on the scene Rit was set up. Fortunately he didn't have to go in too far.
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Permalink Reply by mike wright on
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Where is the line between heroic and stupid. I may have done the same thing but why not wait for the rest of the crew to arrive to assist with the fire. If something would have happened then what? Two people trapped instead of one. Now what does that say about the fire service? Do we want to be called cowboys? We have the policy we dont go in with out a partner and a back up team where was his? It was a judgment call but could have ended up so badly for him.
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Trust me I am no prude, I think it is remarkable that he got in there and got the rescue. I also look over the broad scope of the project to the what if's. I read way too often in NIOSH reports about brash decision making (especially when a victim is involved) so I tend to err on the side of caution when operating. Now in all reality if this was my daughter or one of my sons, I would hope someone would do the same. All I wanted to bring up is that this is a good story, but not all stories with this plot line have the same ending. Be well and stay safe
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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It's a judgment call based on experience, the location and extent of fire, building construction, and so on. It sounds like Josh used good judgment and made the right call. I hope that I would too under similar circumstances.
As far as the 2-in, 2-out rule, it is not applicable when life safety is involved. If it's a structure with no one inside, then yeah 2-in, 2-out. Or no-in, 4 out if it's lightweight construction.
Heroic is going in alone to save a 4 year old child; Needless (I don't want to say stupid out of respect) is going in alone to save a 40 year old unoccupied house.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Betz on
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I wasn't there, so I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. I got the feeling from reading the story that it wasn't really all that bad in there, only because the FF made the rescue without SCBA and the kid was apparently in relatively decent shape after the rescue. The atmosphere must have been fairly tenable for two humans without special equipment to survive during their time inside. That tells me that Josh made a logical decision and snatched the kid before things really went to heck.
This issue does open up a whole can of worms about where to draw the line concerning go/no go on a rescue situation. I have made a few rescues over the years and you folks would probably have a real good time with my stories (maybe a new topic?).
Any thoughts?
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Permalink Reply by Donnie Bathje on
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Against policy or not. Against 2 in 2 out or not. Josh performed a heroric act. Nice grab Josh.
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I didn't mean to stir up a hornets nest here. I have been in the fire service over 30 years and know all too well the things that could happen. I was never fortunate enough to save a person. Always too late. However I was able to save a dog one time and that was with full gear on with lines being manned and backup as well. In the fire service we are trained to take a calculated risk to save a viable victim. No risk for body recovery. The sad part is that there have been lives lost with no one inside, and nothing to gain by making entry where a house was 70 to 80 percent involved. I worked in the training divsion for 5 years with a 130 strong department wrote policies, served as saftey officer and have served in command as well. I guess the fact that Josh was able to get the kid out, without injury to himself or the child just made me feel good along with the others in our department. I will never forget New Years Night 1983 when I found two children next to their mom and all had perished in the fire. That was a night that we were too late, and nothing could be done. So again not trying to stir up a hornets nest just trying to recognize someone who was able to save a child without incident.
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