Honour for brave fire rescue heroes
Published: September 15, 2006
FIREFIGHTERS who saved a woman trapped in her burning home will be honoured.
Six retained firefighters from South Street fire station will each receive a bravery commendation for the part they played in the dramatic rescue of Michaela Shortland from her smoke-filled bedroom as a fire blazed downstairs.
Crew managers Tim Thorold, 35, and James Shawley, 42, will join crew members Omar Benavides, 38, Jonathan Kaufman, 30, Shaun Kelly, 23, and Ricky Strickland, 34, to receive awards from Chief Fire Officer, Michael Thomas at a ceremony in Lincoln on Tuesday night.
At 1am on August 26, last year a candle started a fire in the lounge of Ms Shortland’s semi-detached home in Primrose Close, Morton.
Waking to find her bedroom filling with thick, black smoke, Ms Shortland, 38, dialled 999 from her mobile phone. When the team arrived just 10 minutes later, she had already breathed in a lot of smoke and was desperately clawing at the bedroom window.
Crew manager Tim Thorold said: “We could see the blaze on the ground floor with a figure silhouetted against an upstairs bedroom window.
“Immediately Jonathan and Ricky put on breathing gear to fight the fire while Shaun and I got the ladders up to the window. By this time Michaela was clearly desperate and suffering smoke inhalation and was on the point of collapse.
We forced the window open and got her out and down the ladder to safety.”
Ms Shortland was then rushed to Peterborough District Hospital where she was treated for smoke inhalation and kept in overnight.
According to James Shawley, the situation could have been a lot worse.
He said “If it wasn’t for the fact that she had managed to stay on her feet at the window we would have struggled to find her as quickly as we did. A few more minutes and that fire would have had the whole house.
“Luckily, once we were on the scene we had the situation under control very quickly and were able to perform the rescue with little fuss. We aren’t heroes, it is nice to be recognised by the brigade, but we were all just doing our jobs.”
But for Ms Shortland the firemen are lifesavers.
She said: “They were superb – real heroes. Along with Donna, who took my 999 call, they acted superbly and quickly.
“I am still here today because of them and would like to thank the fire service because without these guys I may not have been so lucky.”
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