ThisWeek CW 06/25/2015
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/06/22/firefighters-honored-for-lifesaving-rescue.html
Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates honored 16 firefighters last week for their work in rescuing two people June 1 from the basement of a burning house.
At the June 17 Madison Township trustees’ meeting, Bates presented Lt. James Looney and firefighters Larry Baugess and Michael Kipp with Individual citations and awarded Battalion Chief Drew Pruden a Distinguished Service Medal. He also presented letters of recognition to 10 Columbus firefighters who helped battle the blaze.
The department’s top award, the Medal of Valor, went to Lt. Pamela Price and firefighter Jessica Borden, who walked down a burning stairwell to rescue 23-year-old Josh Coyle.
At 5:30 a.m. June 1, firefighters — including crews from Violet and Bloom townships as well as Columbus — were called to a house at 829 Groveport Road in Canal Winchester, where smoke detectors had alerted the family and allowed John and Leisa Marcum, along with 9-month-old Jolene and 4-year-old Damien, to escape to safety.
Coyle, the Marcums’ adult son, and his girlfriend, Jessica Moore, were trapped in the basement.
“We were sleeping in the basement and heard the smoke alarm going off through the baby monitor,” Moore said. “We could tell the fire was at the top of the stairs, so we couldn’t go out.”
Until they passed out from the smoke, she and Coyle were communicating over 911 with Columbus firefighters Mike McComas and Mike Weier, who assured them help was on the way and to remain calm.
When Price and Borden got downstairs, they found Coyle unconscious and carried him out of the house.
Columbus firefighters had cut a hole through the eastern wall of the burning house and then through a floor. Firefighter Jonathan Singleton went down a ladder with three other firefighters and found Moore unconscious.
They carried her up the ladder through the 3-by-3-foot hole to Columbus Fire Lt. Bryan Searle and others, who handed her out to medics.
Coyle and Moore were suffering from carbon-monoxide poisoning. Both have recovered.
Borden, 29, has been a Madison Township firefighter for more than 11 years.
“I will openly admit that I was scared,” she said. “When they said we’re going in, I thought, ‘Are you serious?
“Your senses are heightened and you’re paying attention to things like how much air do you have left because you have to get back out,” she said. “And you wonder, ‘Will the house hold up above me?’ ”
According to Bates, when crews arrived, the most intense fire was surrounding the stairs to the basement.
“I’m very thankful for all of them,” Leisa Marcum said at the ceremony, before making the rounds to thank all the firefighters.
Bates said he could not be prouder of the work the crew did.
He said it was “like watching a great team play.”
“Everyone knew what was being done, what needed to be done and everyone performed their role,” he said. “This just doesn’t happen by accident or luck, and you don’t just randomly undertake an operation like this and make it happen. Everyone’s dedication to training, cooperation and communication is what led to this outcome.
“The result is exactly what we were hoping for: the rescue of both of the trapped occupants, who have recovered from their injuries,” he added. “I cannot be prouder of the job that the crews from all of the departments that responded did. This was a fantastic job and tremendous effort by everyone there.”
Earl Rinehart from The Columbus Dispatch contributed to this story.