Washington County Men Hailed Heroes for Pulling Children Out of Blaze
Published: April 18, 2007
4-year-old and 6-year-old brothers are being treated at the Westchester Medical Center Burn Unit after they were saved from a fire in their Hudson Falls home late Monday nigh. And now, members of the police and fire departments are being credited for their heroics in pulling those boys out of the burning building.
Those men are:
* Patrolman John Kibling and Sergeant Todd Lemery of the Hudson Falls Police Department
* Assistant Fire Chief James Brunelle of the Kingsbury Fire Department
* And EMT Jim Brayman of Ft. Edward Fire and Rescue
NEWS10’s Tracy Egan spoke Tuesday with some of the men who put themselves on the line.
Brothers Corey and Cobey LaMarque could not escape the thick smoke. Their mother, Florence LeBrun, had already escaped with her 11-year-old daughter and 15-month-old son.
Sgt. Lemery and Officer Kibling used flashlights to practically crawl along the hallway.
“They were extremely brave, but we were within 30-seconds to a minute of losing the children…it was that in-balance,” says Sgt. Lemery.
Sgt. Lemery says he and the other rescuers were just doing their jobs - but listen to this:
“It just blasted us with all kinds of smoke and heat,” says neighbor Jarad Brunelle.
Jarad worked with Kingsbury firefighter James Brunelle to reach the trapped boys.
“Jim grabbed a towel or blanket or whatever that is (pointing to the cloth still on the roof of the house) and tried to wrap his face, and he popped in, but it was too hot in there,” Jarad says.
Hudson Falls Deputy Police Chief Randy Diamond calls the rescuers heroes for entering the burning building without any protective gear.
“They basically put their own personal lives at risk entering the building filled with smoke - they had no protective equipment other than common equipment worn by police officers, and they entered this building filled with smoke and fire,” says Deputy Chief Diamond.
Jean Hayes lives in the other half of the burned house with her own family.
“I can’t imagine what those two little boys are goin’ through,” Hayes says.
Hayes was less sympathetic to their mother after learning police told us the smoke detectors at LeBrun’s house were not working.
“What is there to say,” Hayes says. “Make sure you have smoke alarms that work and don’t take out the batteries for your kids’ toys.”
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