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Vermont Firefighter Breaks Rules To Rescue Woman In Fire
HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN
Brattleboro Reformer
GRAFTON - Volunteer firefighter Richard Thompson knew when the tone came in Friday night that this was not going to be an ordinary fire.
Thompson was home, just after 5 p.m., when the call came in that Beatrice Fisher's 150-year-old farm house was ablaze.
Fisher's home is less than a mile from where Thompson lives, so instead of going to the Grafton Fire Station, he drove directly to the Fisher property.
When he got there, flames and smoke were rising out of the rear of the historic building. A granddaughter-in-law of Fisher's was shouting to the woman, who is in her 80s, and who was trapped in the burning building.
"Gram is in the building," the relative said. "I can hear her."
Thompson has been a firefighter for about a year and he knew all of the basic requirements of never entering a burning building alone and always trying to make sure you had the proper equipment.
Thompson might have thought about that for an instant.
But with the fire growing by the second, and Fisher's faltering voice coming through a shattered window, Thompson broke every rule he knew.
He kicked in the front door, got down on his knees and began searching for Fisher, alone. Fisher's voice, a barely audible whimper at that point, could be heard from a room on the first floor.
The heat was intense, and smoke filled the room where Thompson went to look for Fisher.
Even though he disregarded the training lessons on equipment and teamwork, he did remember about doing a right-hand sweep and about staying low. He crawled close to the wall, swinging his arm out to try to feel for Fisher.
At first, he failed to find anything.
He took a deep breath, and did another sweep, when, without gloves on his hand, he felt a soft brush of human skin. He might have missed that feeling with gloves on.
"Bea. Yell at me so I can find you," Thompson shouted.
And from outside, Fisher's granddaughter-in-law was trying to get her to make noise. Thompson could hear the windows popping from the intense heat and the dry timbers of the century-and-a-half old building cracking.
And, somewhere else, among the noise and havoc, he heard the soft whisper of Fisher's voice.
Knowing that this was probably about as long as he should be alone in the burning building, he reached out and grabbed the woman.
At first her body did not come easily. She must have been holding on, or hooked. Thompson pulled, freeing her and he carried her out to safety.
By the time Thompson staggered out with Fisher in his arms, other firefighters and ambulances were just arriving.
He dragged her across the lawn. A rescue team gave her oxygen and she quickly regained consciousness.
This weekend, she was being treated in a hospital for smoke inhalation, but is now expected to recover. The Fisher house, one of the oldest homes in Grafton, was a total loss.
Firefighters occasionally go directly to the site of the fire if it is closer to the home. But they are always under strict rules to wait for help and the proper equipment.
Grafton Fire Chief Eric Stevens on Sunday refused to criticize his fireman's decision to go into the building to save Fisher.
"I would not recommend it, but I am not going to second-guess him," the chief said. "When you come upon a scene like that, you have to weigh the risk. You have to weigh your life against the life of someone else."
And Chief Stevens said that he did have one thing to say about Thompson's reaction.
"I would call him a hero," said Stevens.
Stevens said the Grafton department would be investigating the cause of the fire, though he said it was not suspicious.
In an interview Sunday, Thompson tried to downplay all the praise which he has received throughout the weekend.
He admits to probably "breaking every rule in the book," but said if he came upon the same scene again where a Grafton neighbor's life was threatened, he would do it all over again.
"When you know there is someone in there, there is a little more of, 'Oh, my God,'" said Thompson on Sunday. "I know these people. They are my neighbors. I ain't no hero. I would do the same thing again, and so would anyone else in this department. I was just doing my job."
Copyright 2010 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.
All Rights Reserved
December 13, 2010
Copyright 2010 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.
All Rights Reserved
December 13, 2010
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Timothy D. Stone Jr on
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While it was no where near the safe thing to do. I agree with what he did, and I belive I would do the samething in his place.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Koontz on
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well done
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Permalink Reply by john prezleski on
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AWESOME RICHARD USED YOUR TRAINING SAVED A LIFE ROCK ON BROTHER GOD BLESS
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Permalink Reply by John Stewart on
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you are a hero that was a very gutsy move good job stay safe brother
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Permalink Reply by Barry Copley on
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yeah I would've definately done the same thing.Just this morning we had a fire we had to give mutual aide to Lenore Vol. Fire Department.The call came in around 11 a.m. and when it was toned out they said there was an Entrapment so I asked my Safety Officer who was our driver to the scene if he wanted me to put an air pack and everything on and he said no that I wasn't allowed to go into the house because I have less than a year experience also.So then then when we got on scene the chief of Lenore asked me to give him a break and climb a ladder against the side of the home and spray water into where the attic was because thats where the fire started.So I did it.Well after we got back to the station I was jumped onto over simply climbing a ladder and spraying water.My safety director said to never climb a ladder unless he told me to.Well I was told not to go into the house so I don't see what the big deal was about trying to spray it from the outside.We were directly in front of a hydrant.
Even if something would've happened ex; Outside wall fell in or something it wasn't very high up I coulda bailed off the ladder and not gotten hurt.What do you guys think about that?
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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I wonder what all the comments on this forum would be if he died trying to do it instead of making the save?
Just wondering....
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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I hope I'm never in the same situation you found yourself in, Richard. If I ever do I hope I'll have the courage to risk all to save a life. Well done.
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Tough call. This is not the place to get the answer you need. You might get one you're looking for, but your chief and your safety officer are your superiors. You must follow their orders. They're looking out for your safety.
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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Norm,
I'm sure you're just being modest. No firefighter worth his salt could stand outside and do nothing.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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I wondered the same thing.
He made a judgement call, luckily it was the right one. Nice job FF Thompson.
Stay safe everybody!
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I was thinking that as well. But you know our culture. Do things and get away with them, you're a hero. Do them and get killed, you're a dead hero. Do them and get injured, you get investigated, battle over workers comp issues for months on end, and end up with a "nice try, strong work, but don't ever do it again" letter in your file.
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Permalink Reply by Zach Starkey on
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i would have done it too
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