by Mary Wilson
In the early morning hours of Saturday, February 24,
Grandview resident Joshua Jenkins noticed that his street seemed to be full of
what he considered fog, but quickly realized from the smell that something was
on fire. He then discovered that the heavy smoke was coming from a neighbor’s
house at 13803 10th Terrace.
Jenkins immediately called 911 to report the fire, and then
approached the home where he saw flames through the living room window.
“After witnessing one of the occupants breaking out a window
in the middle room of the house, Joshua reported to the 911 dispatcher that
there were people trapped and could see the fire in the living room growing
larger,” said Grandview Mayor Leonard Jones, who presented Jenkins with a
proclamation during the Tuesday, March 27 Board of Aldermen meeting.
Shortly after, Grandview police arrived, followed by the
Grandview Fire Department. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the home
had no working smoke detectors.
“Fire Department staff believes that by stopping and
becoming involved in reporting the house fire, Joshua saved the lives of the
three trapped occupants who only had a few minutes to spare before being
overcome by smoke inhalation,” said Jones.
“A couple more
minutes, and these could have been fatalities,” said Grandview Fire Marshal Lew
Austin. “One victim was taken out of the rear window by an assisting police
officer, and the two others were rescued by firefighters through the front door
of the home.”
According to Austin, one occupant was admitted to intensive
care for severe smoke inhalation, one was unconscious when they were rescued
and they all suffered from lacerations and other injuries from the fire.
“The key thing here is that we need to have working smoke
detectors,” said Austin. “If residents in Grandview do not have smoke
detectors, call us and we’ll come out and install them.”
The City of Grandview Fire Department receives donations of
smoke detectors from the American Red Cross organization, and the department
purchases any additional that may be needed for homes in the community.
“We don’t want to see any fatalities,” said Austin. “His
actions that evening have led to a Community Fire Department Citizen’s Award.”
For his actions, Jenkins received further recognition from
the fire department. He has been a Grandview resident for 23 years, and lives
with his wife and three children. Jenkins has also completed the Community
Emergency Response Team training as well as additional safety training in the
Boy Scouts, his church and from his family.
“It is nice to be recognized, but I want to recognize our
EMS personnel, our fire and our police that do this every day,” said Jenkins.
“They are who do the heavy lifting of all that for our community, and I’d like
to thank them for their services, as well.”
If you are a Grandview resident in need of a smoke detector
in your home, you can contact the Grandview Fire Department at 816-316-4961 to
have one installed at no cost.
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