Fire Captain

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

6/7/2016

Special Act Award (Gold)

On June 7, 2016, at 7:50 a.m., Fire Captain Steven Van Heertum’s shift ended and he planned to head to the hospital to visit his son. Captain Van Heertum traveled toward Ramona, in rural San Diego County, along a heavily traveled stretch of Highway 78. As he approached a blind corner, he witnessed two vehicles collide head-on and spin away from each other, surrounded by a cloud of dust, smoke, and shattered glass. As the vehicles came to rest on opposite sides of the road, one of the vehicle’s engine compartments was engulfed in flames. Captain Van Heertum ran to the driver of the vehicle to find a semi-conscious young man trapped by the crumpled dashboard. Captain Van Heertum ran back to his truck, made an attempt to hail dispatch on his radio, and grabbed his fire extinguisher and his firefighting Nomex jacket. Disregarding his own personal well-being, Captain Van Heertum covered the young man with the jacket and emptied his extinguisher to no avail. At this point, both lanes of traffic had stopped and multiple vehicles were parked in the roadway. Captain Van Heertum ran through the line of vehicles asking for more fire extinguishers. He collected three more extinguishers, and emptied them on the fire but to no avail. Running out of options, he once again ran through the stopped vehicles and located a hydro-seeding vehicle with a small tank and powered pump. He directed the operator to move closer to the scene and turn on the pump. Using the spray nozzle, Captain Van Heertum was able to successfully extinguish the fire. After the flames were out, Captain Van Heertum returned to his vehicle to retrieve his personal medical kit and began to render first aid to the trapped young man until the first fire engines arrived. He remained with the young survivor to continue his care through the extrication process. The young man is alive today, due to Captain Van Heertum’s efforts. The victim was flown by medical helicopter to the University of California at San Diego where he spent two months recovering from major abdominal injuries, the loss of the lower portion of his right leg, and burns that covered 14 percent of his body. Although Captain Van Heertum suffered multiple abrasions to his left arm and multiple burns to his right forearm and hand, he initially refused treatment. His priority was still not himself; he needed to see his son.