YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. — Everyone knows firefighters save lives. What they don’t always know, though, is that they too, sometimes need saving. After being incapacitated by smoke inhalation, a volunteer firefighter relied on the help of his crew to save him from his burning home.
Volunteer firefighter Bryan Thomas was asleep in his home Tuesday night when he woke up choking on smoke.
“I couldn’t get to where I could breathe,” Thomas told MSNews Now. “I noticed the house was full of smoke, so I got out of my bed and my fire radio sits here and that’s all I could think, is to grab it and call for dispatch.”
Two colleagues of Thomas, Walker Smith and Stuart Bass, heard the call over the radio and rushed to the scene, where they found Thomas passed out in his doorway.
“I saw him. Just his head hanging out of the doorway and smoke steady rolling out of the door,” Smith said.
The two firefighters worked together to pull Thomas from the entrance of his house.
Although Thomas’ home was almost destroyed, he said he’s fortunate to be alive.
“I thank them everyday. I pray for them … We are always there for each other. We work all together for each other all the time,” Thomas said.