Many firefighters work an entire career and never have a chance to execute a save. But those who do are likely to remember them, especially their first.
We asked readers to share their first-save stories and compiled this collection of inspiring, amusing and heart-wrenching tales. We now invite you to join in by adding your own story in the comment section below.
1.“Pulling a man from a crawl space under his home while the floor was on fire.” — Richard Kelley
2.“After one cut open and scratched-up face, I saved a cat from a roof.” — Tyler Ashman
3.“A little girl in a motor vehicle crash. I held her grandmother’s organs in my hands. The girl was thrown from the back seat to the front and through the windshield. She wrote to me and drew pictures for many, many years afterwards. That wasn’t my first but the one that impacted me more.” — Sonny Schoenberger
4.“Goldfish in a bowl. I had knocked it off its table when we were going into a house for a fire attack. Minutes later, I found it flopping around on the floor and with its bowl on its side. I filled the bowl with water from our hose line, plopped the fish back in and took it outside. There’s a picture of me coming out the front door of the house carrying the bowl with the fish happily swimming around. Believe me, 24 years later and I still can’t live that picture down.” — Darren Phillips
5.“An 80-year-old lady trapped in her bedroom when her house was burning. Another firefighter and myself pulled her out. I was 18 years old at the time.” — Kurt Knauss
6.“A 25-pound skunk that crawled into my turnout coat during an attic fire. I thought I had the family tabby, giving him air from my mask down the ladder. I opened my coat and here’s a black and white face. He never sprayed me, jumped down and ran off.” — Robert Mortie
7.“A 9-month-old baby who stopped breathing. I was a block away and got there in 5 seconds. Did infant CPR and the baby lived! I felt pretty good for a long time.” — Thomas David Marovich Sr.
8.“A guy’s prosthetic leg and roll of snuff from a freezer at a trailer fire. Never seen one so happy.” — Michael Pilkins
9.“A little 5-year-old girl choking on a quarter.” — Suson Hutcheson Pardew
10.“A life sized baby doll under a bed.” — Judd Sonafelt
11.“Christmas eve 1997 I pulled a 13-year-old boy out of a basement fire. He wasn’t breathing when found. He spent 3 weeks in a coma and is alive and well today.” — Dan Krushik
12.“0 for 8 on my end but still love my job and hoping everyday I get that turned around.” — Nikki Renee