Pennsylvania Firefighters Recall Apartment Rescue

Two Carlisle firefighters were recognized as community heroes on Thursday morning after rescuing a man in an apartment fire on Wednesday night.

Capt. Micah Dewhurst and firefighter Josh Martin, both of Union Fire Co. No. 1, were dispatched with other firefighters around 10:11 p.m. Thursday to the 400 block of North Bedford Street after a resident reported smoke in the apartment.

The caller then reported hearing a smoke detector go off in an adjoining apartment.

"We were dispatched, it was a little after 10, to smoke in a house. Upon arrival, we were being advised that it was coming from the next-door neighbor," Martin said.

The firefighters were told that there were still two people inside the apartment.

'Rescue mode'

"That's when the captain and I decided to force the door and go into a rescue mode," Martin said, noting that two other individuals from the crew followed them.

The fire, it was determined, was in the kitchen area on the second floor.

"In this process, I heard a faint cry for help, a real faint gasping for air," Martin said. "And Micah himself heard gasps and moaning and gurgling."

"It was a very precious timeline to get him out and at that time he went unconscious and that's when he collapsed," Martin said. "He collapsed right into almost the kitchen area. So his feet were going towards the fire room and kitchen."

The firefighters literally had seconds to rescue the unconscious man.

Matter of minutes

Dewhurst got above the man on the steps and took his arms, while Martin and the other two firefighters took the man's legs.

"The fire was rolling out from the kitchen out over our heads and above his head," Dewhurst said.

Dewhurst said that fire was licking the back of the man's head as they attempted the rescue.

"I mean lack of oxygen's there, smoke inhalation, also burns," he said of the victim's condition. "And you're breathing all that stuff in which is hot gas, so that's also burning the back of your throat, your esophagus, your lungs, so it's all stuff that people don't really stop and realize."

"No fire is ever really low-budget, because anything can go wrong," Dewhurst said. "But the fire was right there where the victim was. Within a couple more minutes, he would maybe not have been there."

Thick smoke

The cause of the fire, Martin said, was assumed to be food cooking in a flat pan on an electric stove that boiled over and shorted out the stove. The fire then ran up into the wall.

"It could have been much worse," Martin said. "We had heavy dark char marks in the kitchen, but the smoke was so thick it blackened the whole entire hallway like halfway down the wall. So it was burning for a while."

"I believe when we forced the door and we gave it a little bit more oxygen is when it actually showed itself when we got to the top," Martin said. "It was like it was just happy to be fueled."

The man who was trapped in the building, estimated to be in his 60s, was brought out successfully by Martin, Dewhurst and the rest of the team and taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Because his name was not released, The Sentinel was unable to obtain information on his condition.

The firefighters said that the man was talking to paramedics when he left the scene.

The second person in the apartment left the building on her own. A third person was also evacuated safely from the apartment on the first floor.

The building sustained significant damage from the blaze.

"His apartment is definitely unlivable, only because we had to cut a hole in the roof to relieve the heat and smoke, and we also took just about every window, because the place was full of smoke and heat. We were trying to relieve heat," Martin said.

Right place, right time

The firefighters said that you can never anticipate what is going to happen on the job.

"In my own personal words, I'm going to say you don't ever expect it to happen," Martin said. "You go to all this training and you're told, 'This is why we're doing it, you may have to save a life someday. Or even save one of your own brother's lives someday.'

"You never, you never ever, expect when that bell goes off -- 'Well, I might get to save somebody today.'"

"It was the right place at the right time, nothing could have been any smoother," Martin said of Wednesday night's fire and response.

"There's guys that you ask them who have been in 20, 30, 35 years (who) haven't ever rescued anybody or haven't even been (to) the fire where rescues happen," Dewhurst said.

The last time someone was rescued in a fire in Carlisle was in October 2009 on North Pitt Street, and Dewhurst participated there as well.

Giving back

Dewhurst said that helping people is one of the best parts of being a firefighter.

"Just giving back and helping people out in a time of need," Dewhurst said. "I mean, I know if that was me and my family members, I'd want somebody to be there. Just to be a part of the oldest continuously running volunteer fire house in the nation is like, an honor."

"It's just an honor to be a part of here and be part of the family here and nothing can ever replace that," he added.

Also reporting to the scene, in addition to Union Fire Company, were Carlisle Fire and Rescue Services, North Middleton, Carlisle Barracks, Mt. Holly Springs and Cumberland Goodwill EMS.

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Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

A pair of firefighters from Union Fire Co. No. 1 of Carlisle are being lauded for their efforts to save a borough man from a house fire Wednesday night.

State police at Carlisle released a statement from Union Fire Co. Deputy Chief Brian Hamilton this morning citing the efforts of Capt. Micah Dewhurst and firefighter Josh Martin.

The statement says Dewhurst and Martin saved a male in his 60s from an apartment fire at 404B North Bedford Street in Carlisle Wednesday night. The fire was reported at 10:11 p.m.

Check back to Cumberlink today for more details as they become available.

McClatchy-Tribune News Serivce