Engine 9 A-shift makes a save on Milton Street

On November 3, 2007, at 17:53, Engine 9, Engine 5, Ladder 13, Medic 2, Medic 101, Battalion Chief 2, and RS1 received a call for a structure fire at 605 Milton Street Northwest. Engine 9 arrived at 17:56 hours to find heavy smoke showing from all sides of the dwelling.

Firefighter Jerry Franks started a primary search and found a victim in the hallway just outside the bedroom where the fire was located. This patient was found unconscious and barely breathing. Firefighter Franks with the assistance of Captain Kevin Weeks removed the patient from the heavily smoked structure to the front yard where the patients care was transferred to Firefighter Duane Noell. At this time, the appropriate care was rendered to the victim until the arrival of Medic 101. The patient suffered moderate smoke inhalation with burns to one leg. The patient is expected to make a full recovery.

After removal of the patient, crews from Engine 9 remade entry into the structure with members from Engine 5 to extinguish the fire. The fire was quickly knocked down and under control by the units on scene at 18:07 hours.

Quick actions and decisive decision making by the first arriving company not only prevented further injury to the patient, but was most certainly the decision that saved the patients life. On top of saving the patient, the crew also played a big role in stopping the damage that the fire would have caused if not attended to in such a timely manner.

A congratulations is in order to the members of Engine 9 for the roles that they played in the rescue and extinguishing of the fire.

The account above was written by Firefighter Duane Noell. The interpretation exemplifies how teamwork accomplished the save and further extinguished the fire. I commend all units on scene for the job they did. While I have been on numerous fires, I have not been a part of a viable rescue from a fire.

I apologize for not getting to this story earlier. However, the press release that was given did not talk about the rescue, and I only learned about this a couple of days ago. In the future, if you guys have a story/incident to share, be sure to let me know about it.

Good job guys/gals. Below is the press release from the fire.

On November 3, 2007, Roanoke Fire-EMS responded to a fire at 605 Milton St. The call came into the E-911 Center at approximately 5:53 p.m. The response of 3 engines, 1 ladder truck, 3 medic units, the EMS Captain, the Investigation Unit and a Battalion Chief for a total of 21 personnel responded to the scene. The fire was under control by 6:07 p.m.

When crews arrived they found heavy smoke coming from all sides of the building. One of the occupants stated someone was still inside. Crews gained entrance and assisted an occupant from the home. The fire was quickly extinguished.

There were 2 people in the house when the fire started. They were helped out of the house by Fire-EMS personnel and transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for smoke inhalation. There were no injuries to Fire-EMS personnel.

The fire started in a bedroom and was contained to the house. The house sustained some heavy smoke damage. The cause of the fire was due to a match being accidentally dropped on the bed. Damage estimates are approximately $18,000.