The Associated Press
WAHPETON, N.D. — Briana Chubb finally got to meet the Richland County dispatcher who helped save her life. And soon they were chatting like old friends.
“This is great,” Briana told Tracy Hansen this week at a ceremony honoring Hansen and three firefighters who rescued her from her burning home in Great Bend on Jan. 14. “Thank you, so much.”
“It’s so nice to see her, nice to see her alive,” Hansen said.
Briana, 17, was home from school alone, when fire broke out in her home. She dialed 911 and got Hansen.
Briana stuffed a towel under her bedroom door and breathed through sheets to keep out the smoke. Hansen, a dispatcher in the county for four years, encouraged Briana to stay low to the ground until the Great Bend firefighters got there.
Hansen helped firefighters Ryan Fenske, Steve Manock and Ron Thorson locate Briana. The firefighters put up a ladder and knocked out the window to pull Briana to safety, Richland County authorities said.
“What you guys did was incredible,” said Richland County Commission Chairman Perry Miller told the three firefighters Monday. “You truly are a credit to the area.”
Hansen, a mother of two, said she was just doing her job.
“You just get caught up in the moment and you do what you do to get it done,” she said.
A benefit is planned for Briana’s family. She said remembering the fire was not easy.
“At first, I would have dreams about it and be afraid to wake up,” she said.
Don Klovstad, a trustee with North Dakota Firefighter’s Association, praised the teenager for staying calm.
“Knowing what you did made Tracy’s job easier,” Klovstad said.