Teen, dental assistant save amputee from Upper Darby fire — A disabled man was rescued from his burning home Tuesday afternoon through the combined efforts of a 17-year-old neighbor and a dental assistant from the office down the street.
According to Upper Darby Township Fire Marshal Daniel Lanni, Brittany Drive resident Thomas Dalton, a double-leg amputee, was found lying face down in his living room surrounded by flames after Upper Darby High School student Andrew Collins kicked in his neighbor’s door in an attempt to save him.
With help from Broomall resident Kate O’Neill, who works as a dental assistant at the Vincent C. Pepe D.M.D. Family Dentistry office on Brittany Drive, the two pulled Dalton out of the inferno and onto his front yard, Lanni said.
Upper Darby Township Fire Department Deputy Chief Gary McAfee said the call for the fire — placed by Collins — came in at 12:24 p.m. The one-alarm blaze, which remained on the first floor, was extinguished within 19 minutes, McAfee said.
Lanni said the cause of the blaze, as well as the cost of the ensuing damage, were still under investigation.
Teen, dental assistant save amputee from Upper Darby fire
Dalton was transported to Nathan Speare Regional Burn Treatment Center, where his condition was unclear Tuesday evening, Lanni said. Dalton’s pet dog did not survive the blaze, he added.
A volunteer firefighter with Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Co. and East Lansdowne Fire Co., Collins said he was mowing his lawn when he noticed smoke emanating from his neighbor’s dining room window Tuesday afternoon.
“Once I saw the smoke, I was thinking about whether it could possibly be an actual fire or someone just burned something,” Collins said. “I went around to the front of the house and saw a few people trying to open the door, but they couldn’t.”
Collins cleared the other neighbors from the area and proceeded to kick the door down, Lanni said. Once inside, Collins and O’Neill spotted Dalton on the floor, apparently trying to crawl to the door. The two picked him up and pulled him out of the house, where other neighbors assisted in getting Dalton to safety on his front lawn.
“My first instinct was just let’s get in there, just get in there and get him out, and that’s what we did,” O’Neill said. “It was hard and it was scary because it was a lot of smoke.
“Thank God, we all did hear him screaming and we’d seen it and we were able to get him out of the house,” she added.
Once out of the burning home and onto the front lawn, O’Neill said she tried to comfort her neighbor as the authorities arrived to extinguish the blaze.
“They were here within minutes. I was just laying on the front lawn with him, hugging him. … It looked like his one arm must have been burned pretty bad,” she said. “He was just screaming for his dog, ‘Get Douglas! Get Douglas!’”
Lanni said he appreciated the heroism displayed by Dalton’s neighbors.
“Year in and year out, we see heroism by young adults and by children, as well,” he said. “They have enough poise to be able to do something there with total disregard for their own well-being and safety, to render assistance to someone else.
“A lot of people would have just picked up a cellphone. It’s nice to see our residents getting involved to help each other out.”
In addition to Upper Darby Township Fire Department, Primos-Secane-Westbrook Park Fire Co., Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Co., Cardington-Stonehurst Fire Co., Highland Park Fire Co. and Clifton Heights Fire Co. responded to the scene. Also responding were Delaware County Memorial Hospital paramedics and Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital paramedics. ( delcotimes.com )
According to Upper Darby Township Fire Marshal Daniel Lanni, Brittany Drive resident Thomas Dalton, a double-leg amputee, was found lying face down in his living room surrounded by flames after Upper Darby High School student Andrew Collins kicked in his neighbor’s door in an attempt to save him.
With help from Broomall resident Kate O’Neill, who works as a dental assistant at the Vincent C. Pepe D.M.D. Family Dentistry office on Brittany Drive, the two pulled Dalton out of the inferno and onto his front yard, Lanni said.
Upper Darby Township Fire Department Deputy Chief Gary McAfee said the call for the fire — placed by Collins — came in at 12:24 p.m. The one-alarm blaze, which remained on the first floor, was extinguished within 19 minutes, McAfee said.
Lanni said the cause of the blaze, as well as the cost of the ensuing damage, were still under investigation.
Teen, dental assistant save amputee from Upper Darby fire
Dalton was transported to Nathan Speare Regional Burn Treatment Center, where his condition was unclear Tuesday evening, Lanni said. Dalton’s pet dog did not survive the blaze, he added.
A volunteer firefighter with Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Co. and East Lansdowne Fire Co., Collins said he was mowing his lawn when he noticed smoke emanating from his neighbor’s dining room window Tuesday afternoon.
“Once I saw the smoke, I was thinking about whether it could possibly be an actual fire or someone just burned something,” Collins said. “I went around to the front of the house and saw a few people trying to open the door, but they couldn’t.”
Collins cleared the other neighbors from the area and proceeded to kick the door down, Lanni said. Once inside, Collins and O’Neill spotted Dalton on the floor, apparently trying to crawl to the door. The two picked him up and pulled him out of the house, where other neighbors assisted in getting Dalton to safety on his front lawn.
“My first instinct was just let’s get in there, just get in there and get him out, and that’s what we did,” O’Neill said. “It was hard and it was scary because it was a lot of smoke.
“Thank God, we all did hear him screaming and we’d seen it and we were able to get him out of the house,” she added.
Once out of the burning home and onto the front lawn, O’Neill said she tried to comfort her neighbor as the authorities arrived to extinguish the blaze.
“They were here within minutes. I was just laying on the front lawn with him, hugging him. … It looked like his one arm must have been burned pretty bad,” she said. “He was just screaming for his dog, ‘Get Douglas! Get Douglas!’”
Lanni said he appreciated the heroism displayed by Dalton’s neighbors.
“Year in and year out, we see heroism by young adults and by children, as well,” he said. “They have enough poise to be able to do something there with total disregard for their own well-being and safety, to render assistance to someone else.
“A lot of people would have just picked up a cellphone. It’s nice to see our residents getting involved to help each other out.”
In addition to Upper Darby Township Fire Department, Primos-Secane-Westbrook Park Fire Co., Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Co., Cardington-Stonehurst Fire Co., Highland Park Fire Co. and Clifton Heights Fire Co. responded to the scene. Also responding were Delaware County Memorial Hospital paramedics and Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital paramedics. ( delcotimes.com )
No comments:
Post a Comment