Two Grand Junction firefighters talked to KJCT-TV on Tuesday about a Mayday situation that occurred last fall.
Capt. Clark Thompson and Firefighter Jerome Gardner rescued Firefighter Cory Black after he fell through a hole in the floor during ablaze in White Hall on Sept. 15, 2011.
Before being honored by their department with the Medal of Merit, the two men recounted what happened that day.
The crew was dispatched to check on a report in the area, but they soon realized it was much more.
"On our way there, we soon realized that it was an actual fire," Gardner said. "When we get something like this, it brings us all together and we realize why we're doing this job."
The crew launched an interior attack on the fire, but was unable to knock down the flames in one of the rooms.
Just 15 minutes after entering the structure, their attention was turned to rescuing one of their own.
"As I turned around to pull line, that's when I saw Jerome looking through a hole in the floor," Thompson said. "It was scary. Firefighter Black was my responsibility."
Black fell through the hole and landed on his back before calling the Mayday.
"I was there and watched it," Gardner said. "My first thought was 'He's in big trouble.' "
Firefighters had been called out of structure regroup, and Thompson and Gardner knew they had no time to spare to save their colleague.
Four minutes later, all three men made it out of the structure and Black was uninjured.
Once out, Black demanded to get back inside to battle the flames.
"It says a lot about him and his character," Thompson said. "He wanted to get back into the game."
