Fire Fighter I

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

2/2/2008

Special Act Award (Gold)

On February 2, 2008, at approximately 1 p.m., Firefighter I Franklin T. Johnson and Fire Apparatus Engineer James F. Allen were dispatched to a fire in a mobile home park in the community of Delhi. Upon arrival, they saw the fire was well established, involving 75% of the mobile home and venting through the roof. Family members reported that a child was still inside the home in a bedroom. Both men put on their breathing masks, grabbed a fire hose line and entered the home through the front door. Once inside, they encountered heavy fire and falling debris from the collapsing roof. They searched for a doorway along the adjoining living room wall with no success and were unable to progress to the rear of the home due to the flames. Engineer Allen noticed that the fire had weakened the interior living room wall and began pushing on it. His effort created an access point to the adjoining bedroom. Looking into the bedroom, he saw the fire beginning to burn through the top of the closed bedroom door and starting to flash over the ceiling. He directed his hose stream to the top of the door area knocking down the flames. Firefighter Johnson entered the bedroom and found a 12-year old boy lying face down. Together they picked the boy up and passed him through a small bedroom window to a paramedic and bystander who were in front of the home. Firefighter Johnson and Engineer Allen’s actions during this rescue were responsible for saving the life of this young boy.