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Bradenton Fla--Firefighters Rescue Woman From Burning House
St. Petersburg Times--Hillsborough
Firefighter beats back blaze, rescues woman
Suffering from smoke inhalation, the 55-year-old resident is carried from her mobile home.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 2, 2003
VALRICO - For Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Capt. Jerry Smith, routine calls can include all kinds of ailments:cardiac arrests, broken bones, breathing problems.
People being pulled from burning buildings? Scenes from the movies.
But Smith, a 16-year veteran, found that kind of drama unfolding in real life Friday when he knocked down flames in a mobile home and saved a woman from certain death.
It was the first time he had ever rescued someone in such dramatic fashion.
"The situation is rare," Smith said. "It feels kind of good to make a save."
The action began after 9 a.m. with a medical call at the Featherock Adult Mobile Home Park on State Road 60 in Valrico.
Smith, a firefighter and a firefighter/paramedic were waiting for an ambulance to transport a patient with a minor condition when Smith's alpha pager sent out an alert: fire with possible entrapment.
The blaze was in the same mobile home park, so Smith rushed to Ridgecrest Drive with firefighter Pat Bendure.
Within 30 seconds, they were rounding the block, where they saw flames and heavy smoke billowing from the windows of a mobile home.
"I didn't realize we were that close," said Smith, who is with Engine Co. 11.
A neighbor told Smith that the resident was possibly still inside.
Bendure pried the door open with a crowbar, and Smith burst inside with the fire hose, water blasting. Smith extinguished the flames, which were coming from the kitchen, and began a search.
In the third room he ran into, he found a woman lying in bed. "Help me," she moaned. By then, a second crew had arrived and another firefighter helped Smith carry the woman outside.
A mobile home worker identified the woman as Jane Wisler, 55. Wisler, who suffered smoke inhalation, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she was in good condition Friday night.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighter beats back blaze, rescues woman
Suffering from smoke inhalation, the 55-year-old resident is carried from her mobile home.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 2, 2003
VALRICO - For Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Capt. Jerry Smith, routine calls can include all kinds of ailments:cardiac arrests, broken bones, breathing problems.
People being pulled from burning buildings? Scenes from the movies.
But Smith, a 16-year veteran, found that kind of drama unfolding in real life Friday when he knocked down flames in a mobile home and saved a woman from certain death.
It was the first time he had ever rescued someone in such dramatic fashion.
"The situation is rare," Smith said. "It feels kind of good to make a save."
The action began after 9 a.m. with a medical call at the Featherock Adult Mobile Home Park on State Road 60 in Valrico.
Smith, a firefighter and a firefighter/paramedic were waiting for an ambulance to transport a patient with a minor condition when Smith's alpha pager sent out an alert: fire with possible entrapment.
The blaze was in the same mobile home park, so Smith rushed to Ridgecrest Drive with firefighter Pat Bendure.
Within 30 seconds, they were rounding the block, where they saw flames and heavy smoke billowing from the windows of a mobile home.
"I didn't realize we were that close," said Smith, who is with Engine Co. 11.
A neighbor told Smith that the resident was possibly still inside.
Bendure pried the door open with a crowbar, and Smith burst inside with the fire hose, water blasting. Smith extinguished the flames, which were coming from the kitchen, and began a search.
In the third room he ran into, he found a woman lying in bed. "Help me," she moaned. By then, a second crew had arrived and another firefighter helped Smith carry the woman outside.
A mobile home worker identified the woman as Jane Wisler, 55. Wisler, who suffered smoke inhalation, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she was in good condition Friday night.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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