Rescued from fire
Published: April 11, 2006
It was turning out to be a beautiful Sunday evening in Columbus City after a bright, sunny weekend.
Mitchel Finke, 16, was on his way to meet friends to get in a few holes of golf before darkness set in.
Jason Smith, 34, was catching up on some much-needed yardwork at his home at 2804 Columbus St.
But just as the two men were going their separate ways on April 9, something dramatic happened that brought Finke, Smith and an unidentified third man together.
Fire.
A nearby mobile home, at the corner of Chestnut and Mulberry streets in Columbus City, began burning a little before 6:30 p.m.
An elderly woman, later identified by authorities as Gloria Medina, was trapped inside.
Saw ‘cloud of dust’
Finke, a Columbus Junction resident, said he was approaching Medina’s home when he saw something that he could only describe as a “cloud of dust” coming from it.
“It [smoke] was just rolling out of it,” he said. “But I didn’t see any flames.”
Smith, who lives a block from Medina’s home, saw the same thing Finke did.
“I told my wife that I saw smoke coming from the house,” he said. “It was white at first, then it turned kind of greenish.”
Jumping in his truck, Smith drove over to the home. He arrived in Medina’s driveway at the same time as Finke, who had turned his truck around, approximately 200 yards from Medina’s home, and raced back.
Finke said he saw a third man, described as a Latino, running to the mobile home as fast as he could. By the time Smith and Finke arrived, the unidentified man had ran into the burning mobile home and was trying to get Medina out.
Smith said that he opened the door to let the two people out.
“They were coming down the steps,” Smith said.
Smith said that he had seen the Latino man as a neighbor, but didn’t know him very well and couldn’t verify his name.
Meanwhile, both Finke and Smith ran back to the home to see if anyone else was there. They asked Medina whether she was by herself, but the men said that she and the man who rescued her spoke little English.
Medina also appeared to be overcome by the fire.
“We were both yelling through the door and I thought I heard a scratching noise underneath the trailer, but it was just too full of smoke,” Finke said.
Smith, who had called 911, said that the Columbus Junction Fire Department arrived quickly, in “around five to seven minutes,” he estimated.
Lynn Mincer, Columbus Junction fire chief, said Monday that by the time his units arrived at the scene around 6:30 p.m., Medina was already safely outside. He said that he was not aware of the rescue by Finke, Smith and the unidentified Latino man.
“The trailer was fully involved, with heavy smoke and flames shooting out,” he said. “It was a total loss.”
Mincer said that Medina was treated at the scene for exhaustion and was assisted by the Muscatine-Louisa unit of the American Red Cross, but was not taken to a hospital.
No cause of the fire, which took about a half-hour to put out, has been determined, he said.
We’re not heroes
Although quick thinking by the three men prevented a tragedy, Smith and Finke said that they don’t consider themselves heroes.
“I only did what I hope your neighbor would do for you if you were in trouble,” Smith said.
“It’s ironic that at that moment there were three people there who knew what to do,” Finke said.
Finke admitted that he couldn’t sleep Sunday night.
“I was still shaken up,” he said.
But when Finke returned to Columbus Community High School Monday morning, news of what happened had arrived before him.
“Everyone wanted to thank me for what I did,” he said. “After the fire, I got together with friends and we ate.
“I started feeling better then.”
Finke, a junior, plays golf, football and basketball and is a member of The National FFA Organization.
After graduation, he plans to attend Iowa State University and major in public health.
But Finke may have found a new calling after Sunday’s incident.
“I would like to become a volunteer firefighter,” he said.
Smith said that to him, the volunteer firefighters of the Columbus Junction Fire Department were the real heroes Sunday night.
“They had a very good response,” he said. “They kept the fire contained and away from other nearby trailers.”
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