Mayday audio: “Pumper 51. I need a line. I’m on fire. Right now.”
(Thanks to reader Benjamin Lewin for sending this story to STATter911.com this morning.)
The story below includes the mayday audio from an apartment fire three weeks ago in Raytown Missouri that killed a five year old boy and his grandmother. The boy’a 18-month-old brother is still hospitalized. There was also a close call for firefighter Dave Andrews after a hose burned through.
Dave Eckert & Betsy Webster, KCTV-TV:
Andrews was on the second floor dousing the flames while his colleagues were one floor up trying to reach the trapped family.
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(Fire Chief Matt) Mace says Andrews was stuck in what had become like the middle of a kiln. One stairwell was already blazing when the crew of three went in up the one that was passable. Andrews was using a hose to keep that under control while the other two were upstairs getting the baby boy out through a window.
“A wall of fire in front of him, a wall of fire behind him,” Mace commented.
Then the fire burned through his hose, rendering his only tool for controlling the fire useless.
