Firefighters recount heroic rescue: “Training kicks in and you get the job done”
By Madison Sawyer
Click here for updates on this story
PARKER COUNTY, Texas (KTVT) — Parker County firefighters recently rescued a man from a burning home, which they say was possible due to the department’s dedication to training.
“You are riding the balance of driving fast and driving safe, but of course every time we get a report of a structure fire you want to get there quickly,” firefighter Brandon Harer said.
Harer drove Parker County Emergency Services District One’s Engine 51 to the residential fire on Sunday, July 7.
Firefighter Brenden Martin’s helmet camera captured the first moments of the fire fight.
“When we got there, we saw the porch was on fire,” Martin says. “So our main goal whenever we’re doing that is need to put water on the fire as quick as possible and make the conditions better for any potential victims we had in there.”
Engineer Grant Hall managed the fire scene that day.
“Throughout that video, you see things happen very quickly and almost seamlessly,” Hall says. “That is a culmination of years of work on the organization’s part through training, the guys on the ground that are dedicated to training, and making sure we are ready for any day that we are called upon.”
Hall says that training gives them a victim-first mindset.
“We expect victims, but it has never happened to us as a crew before,” Hall says.
In fact, this crew had never even worked a fire together before Sunday.
But they say their training made their next moves, even amidst limited visibility, zero sense of smell and reduced hearing, seamless.
While Martin and Hall put water on the flames inside the home, Harer was outside the home trying to get smoke off the firefighters inside.
“Upon starting that duty, I heard a neighbor state something to the realm of ‘did you guys check the couch,’ which immediately alerted me to, there could be someone in that part of the structure,” Harer says.
He broke out a nearby window to look, and the video from inside the home captures the next moments.
“I shouted out ‘victim, victim, victim’ which is one of our radio calls when we find a downed person and then I jumped in the window to grab the victim for removal,” Harer says.
“It was a seamless transition to us getting him out,” Martin says.
The three men working together to carried the man out of the home, then starting life saving measures in the front yard.
“Training kicks in and you get the job done,” Martin says. “Having a well-trained fire department and really good individuals on a truck makes a really big difference in possibly saving lives and giving them the best chance of survival.”
The victim rescued from the burning home was transported to Parkland Hospital in critical condition. Parker County fire told CBS News Texas on Thursday that the victim died from his injuries.
CBS News Texas spoke to the man’s family and while they did not want to be interviewed, they say they are thankful for the efforts the firefighters went to that day.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
