LAUREL HILL — Four recently decorated Almarante Volunteer Fire Department firefighters exemplify the value of the organization’s training program and its members’ devotion to their North Okaloosa County neighbors, Chief Charles Carroll said.
Deputy Chief Ryan Jaycocks and firefighters Sean Epperson, Randle Henderson and Scott Zamorski received the department’s first Chief’s Recognition Awards for their efforts at an Aug. 23 house fire.
When the fire broke out in the Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department’s jurisdiction, Almarante provided a mutual aid response, with its new Engine 52 the first unit on the scene, Carroll said.
Under Jaycocks’ command, he and Epperson, the department’s newest firefighter, laid down a suppression stream of water on the flaming residence.
Then they learned from the resident that her three dogs were still in the home.
PRAYING FOR RESCUE
“This lady was praying that her dogs would come out alive,” Carroll said.
Attempts by the News Bulletin to contact the homeowner for comment were unsuccessful.
As Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department firefighters arrived on scene and attacked the fire from the outside, Henderson and Zamorski donned oxygen packs and crawled into the home.
“It was very smoky,” Zamorski said. “We were on our hands and knees calling for the dogs. It was so smoky and steamy in there, and then suddenly he was there right in our face,” he said of the first dog.
“I said, ‘You’re coming with me,’” Zamorski said. “I took him outside and the lady was just ecstatic. Then she said, ‘There’s two more in there.’”
“We just swapped (oxygen) bottles and we went back in,” Henderson said.
“Those dogs, when they came out of that smoky environment, their tails were waggin,’” Carroll said. “This is what it’s all about: saving lives. It makes no difference if it’s an animal or a human.
“We spend a lot of time training these guys and when it’s time to put up or shut up, it’s good to know they can do what they need to do.”
MUTUAL AID
The Rev. Mike McVay, chief of the Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department, praised his colleagues south of town and the congenial working atmosphere they share.
“We appreciate all the help we get,” McVay said. “We’re in the business of serving the community. We’re volunteers, so it’s important to work together to take care of the needs of the community. Most of us have other jobs and responsibilities so it’s important we can work together.”
Almarante also received accolades from the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society, known as PAWS, whose executive director, Dee Thompson, and community development director Denise Song presented the four firefighters with the agency’s Golden Paw Award of Valor.
“It was real heroic, what they did," Thompson said.
PAWS also presented the department with a set of pet oxygen masks that adapt a mask designed for humans to dogs’ and cats’ snouts.
As the firefighters, fire district board members, community supporters and PAWS representatives enjoyed cake after the Sept. 22 ceremony, the decorated firefighters reflected on their Aug. 23 response.
“That night we fulfilled Almarante’s motto: ‘Saving life and property,” Zamorski said. “Three dogs were rescued and the house was still standing.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘What it’s all about: Saving lives’