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Count ... jump ... hug ... strive ... some Christmas lessons learned The entire squad was sitting around Public Safety Station No. 3 when the fire call blared over the loudspeaker and portable radios. Fire report ... structure fire ... 1000 block of Angier Avenue. Angier Avenue – that was two blocks from where we were sitting. Everybody scrambled for their cars or fire trucks. It had been a hectic evening. The first call of the night at 7 p.m. was a disturbance which was actually a fight inside a house. When I walked in, I was greeted by the winner who said he was going to bite my eyeball out and spit it in my face. He was eventually “hogtied” with shackles on his feet connected to handcuffs behind his back and loaded into an ambulance. He was so high on drugs that he wouldn’t feel the pain until the next day. After that, it was one call after another. Things finally settled down around 3 a.m. Sergeant Ricky Carr, the first to see the blazing house, advised all incoming units that the two-story wooden structure was fully involved in flames. I remember being the third car in the sequence to pull up to the fire scene. Sergeant Carr was first and Susan Morrison was second. As was normal procedure, you changed from being a policeman to becoming a fireman from the trunk of your car. Off came your gun belt, radio and shoes. On came your turnout gear (boots, coat, and helmet) and breathing apparatus. As I was changing, I heard Morrison screaming, “I hear them crying ... Oh no ... I hear them crying.” I didn’t hear anything. I thought maybe Susan was freaking out or something. With all my equipment on, I ran towards the burning house and for the first time, realized the severity of the fire. There were flames roaring out of the side windows as well as the roof. My recollection of fighting the fire is that it was a battle. According to records, the blaze was extinguished in 30 minutes. The house was gutted and the roof was a gaping hole. My fire jacket, gloves, and pants were frozen solid. Afterwards, when we should have been straightening up our equipment, the Watch Commander told us that there were three bodies in the house that needed to be found. A man in his sixties and his granddaughters, ages three and five, were unaccounted for. Eight people had escaped the pre-dawn fire. As I crawled on my hands and knees, searching for the bodies, I imagined Hell to be similar to this. Although I could see a bright, full moon and a multitude of stars through the hole that was once the roof, I crept on charred rubble still full of rising smoke. Even though there were probably 15 of us searching, after 20 minutes, we had yet to find the first body. Maybe they had survived! As I entered a doorway leading into a front room, I noticed a doll lying amongst the ruins. As I grabbed its head to push it away, the skull of the three-year-old girl peeled off in my hands. Her fiveyear old sister was several feet away. I went home that morning, and as I lay in bed, I could hear what Susan Morrison heard: “I hear them crying.” Twenty-three years later, I have learned some valuable lessons. Amongst them is not to take life and our attitude and our behavior towards others for granted. I said at Thanksgiving, and I say again – Life has hurdles and blessings. Count your blessings. Jump your hurdles. Hug your loved ones and strive to make your world a better place. TOM URBAN
HR Director, Wills Memorial Hospital
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