30 seconds to rescue child wasn't enough

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10513035

Published Saturday December 13, 2008
30 seconds to rescue child wasn't enough
BY BOB GLISSMANN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Seconds count when a 3-year-old boy lies trapped inside a burning house.

Two firefighters rush in a side door, but the intense heat forces them to the floor and pushes them back out. Elapsed time: less than 10 seconds.

The two run to a ladder another firefighter had set against the front of the house. The first firefighter breaks the window with his ax and dives in, landing on a bed. The second firefighter dives in, landing on top of his partner.

Firefighter No. 1 rolls off the left side of the bed; No. 2 rolls off the right. Neither can see a thing.

No. 1 feels around with his hands, finds a child and tells No. 2. No. 2 radios in that they found the child as he climbs back on the bed and out the window.

No. 1 follows the sound of crunching glass back toward the window and hands No. 2 the boy. No. 2 carries the boy down the ladder. No. 1 follows.

Elapsed time: About 30 seconds.

Firefighter No. 1, Firefighter Candidate Wil Guidebeck, and Firefighter No. 2, Capt. Jim Lee, recounted those intense seconds Thursday, a day and a half after they pulled Davius Potter-Tate out of the house at 1428 O St.

FULL story at link.