By Richard J. Bayne
The Times Herald-Record
VILLAGE OF FLORIDA, N.Y. — Jeff Ricker just happened to be driving on Highland Avenue when he spotted smoke and flames coming from a house.
Ricker is a 26-year Unionville firefighter. He knew he had to check it out.
Ricker, who works for Suburban Propane in Chester, parked his truck down the road.
“I had about 1,500 pounds of propane in that truck,” Ricker said.
He called 911, and went to investigate. Ricker, who arrived minutes ahead of firefighters, ended up rescuing a 92-year-old man from the burning house.
Fire and police officials said Ricker was the right guy in the right place at the right time.
“He absolutely saved that man’s life,” said Florida fire Chief Ron Heter Jr. “A few minutes more and he wouldn’t have made it.”
The flames were shooting higher as Ricker made his way toward the house at 37 Highland Ave. It was just after 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12.
A car was parked in the driveway behind the house. Ricker’s years of experience told him whoever lived in the house used the back door.
Then he spotted a man’s gray hair through a window at the back of the house. It was Otto Gorish, the owner.
Gorish was trapped behind a fallen door. A wall of flame was raging in the house behind him.
“Dude, we’ve got to get you out of there!” Ricker shouted.
He pushed in a window, grabbed Gorish by the shoulders, and pulled him through the window. Since Gorish was barefoot, Ricker hoisted him across his back and carried him 75 feet out to the street.
Firefighters, police and an EMS crew arrived. Village police said Gorish was confused, and covered in smoke and soot. But he was uninjured.
The cause of the fire was undetermined.
Initial indications were that it started in the basement. The two-story brick-and-wood house was gutted by the blaze.
There are gaping holes in the kitchen floor and at the front of the house. Heter said some firefighters almost fell into the holes at the front of the building when they were fighting the blaze.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t come in through the front of the house,” Ricker said. “I never would have found him (Gorish), and I probably would have fallen through the floor.”
Ricker wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near Florida that day. He usually does propane equipment maintenance. He was filling in for a co-worker, on his way to Warwick to make a propane delivery.
“When I saw that fire, I knew I had to check it out,” Ricker said.
“You know how the government says, ‘If you see something, say something?’ I say, ‘If you see something, do something.’”
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