Cadet Saves Three from House Fire

[Private Investigator]

^ thanks for the update.

And welcome to CT sir

[Devil Doc]

Thank you Sir.

Semper Fi.

[Devil Doc]

http://www.wnct.com/story/22166453/19-year-old-civil-air-patrol-cadet-saves-three-in-house-fire

Stilll looks like there is Conflicting Factors. Hopefully it gets fixed before Cadet Watson's name gets drug through the mud.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Thanks!

This puzzles me...

[a2capt]

Actually the whole story still seems to have a mess to it. The timeline as read in one of those web stories makes this seem like it took the fire dept. 45 minutes to an hour to show up, and that the whole fire was going for several hours.

This is a perfect example of things getting out of hand. Fast.

[Peeka]

Thanks!

This puzzles me...

I kinda thought the same thing too. I wonder....

[a2capt]

At 1:16 it appears that Mr. Brian Murray re-enters the house, by 1:30 he is back with the caller.  At 1:42 it's known that there are two people still in the house and their location is reported at 1:47.  At 1:52 she appears to say "I've found them." and at 1:55 she asks a woman "is everybody out, ma'am?" and relays that to the dispatcher.  At 2:14 she starts yelling for everyone to "go across the street" and at 2:22 someone starts repeatedly yelling "No".  At 2:30 she informs the dispatcher that "something just collapsed."  At 2:59 she reports "there's an elderly woman here, I think she's having trouble breathing.... She says she's alright." At 3:24 she acknowledges the dispatcher's instructions and says " I'll guide the emergency crews into the area."

Article says the fire dept. was called around 11AM, email says 1:16, 1:30 .. 15 minutes alone, fire is usually on scene, hoses deployed and already spraying, and we're talking now 1:55 "I've found them". Talk about slow motion fire. In a half hour that thing would have eaten up the whole house.

Good Intentions.. Gone Bad.

[NC Hokie]

Article says the fire dept. was called around 11AM, email says 1:16, 1:30 .. 15 minutes alone, fire is usually on scene, hoses deployed and already spraying, and we're talking now 1:55 "I've found them". Talk about slow motion fire. In a half hour that thing would have eaten up the whole house.

I'm not sure, but I think the times given with the 911 call transcript are minutes and seconds into the call, not hours and minutes.

[johnnyb47]

At 1:16 it appears that Mr. Brian Murray re-enters the house, by 1:30 he is back with the caller.  At 1:42 it's known that there are two people still in the house and their location is reported at 1:47.  At 1:52 she appears to say "I've found them." and at 1:55 she asks a woman "is everybody out, ma'am?" and relays that to the dispatcher.  At 2:14 she starts yelling for everyone to "go across the street" and at 2:22 someone starts repeatedly yelling "No".  At 2:30 she informs the dispatcher that "something just collapsed."  At 2:59 she reports "there's an elderly woman here, I think she's having trouble breathing.... She says she's alright." At 3:24 she acknowledges the dispatcher's instructions and says " I'll guide the emergency crews into the area."

Article says the fire dept. was called around 11AM, email says 1:16, 1:30 .. 15 minutes alone, fire is usually on scene, hoses deployed and already spraying, and we're talking now 1:55 "I've found them". Talk about slow motion fire. In a half hour that thing would have eaten up the whole house.

Good Intentions.. Gone Bad.

I'm pretty sure those were time stamps within the recorded call.
1:16 into the call, 1:30 into the call, 1:42 into the call, etc.... all recorded in minutes:seconds.

(Edited to add the U in the word MINUTES)

[a2capt]

Minutes & Seconds, okay. I can buy that. Though the transcript, if it's that, isn't in the typical format and it's put out by the same source that started the confusion in the first place. If the county/dispatch put out the call that would probably clear up some stuff. Especially if there''s recognizable voices. (to someone).

[Arkbird]

The last few days have been a living nightmare for me and my family.  A CAP member with very, very good intentions created a rather big mess for everyone involved with a press release with quotes from Facebook...  As I understand it, the family and Fire Dept when asked about a cadet were imaging someone in a military uniform not jeans and a t-shirt.  I never told my name to anyone other than the 911 operator, I just did what I needed to do and went home.  I have my original 911 call now on my laptop.  I value highly my reputation among my fellow CAP members and would really not like my name to get drug through the mud anymore.  If anyone would like to hear it for themselves, I will be more than happy to send it to them.  I would post it as an attachment, but I do not have enough posts to do that.

[Eclipse]

You might want to look up the term "nightmare" and dial-down the drama a little.

If anyone is making anything more then the assumption that this is a misunderstanding they need to knock it off.

Good on you for doing what you felt you needed too, and hopefully whoever released the information without doing a little background has learned a lesson.

But don't make more drama out of this then it deserves.  I don't see anyone here "dragging your name through the mud" and if it is happening elsewhere,
then perhaps you should just disengage from those places.

[johnnyb47]

You might want to look up the term "nightmare" and dial-down the drama a little.

If anyone is making anything more then the assumption that this is a misunderstanding they need to knock it off.

Good on you for doing what you felt you needed too, and hopefully whoever released the information without doing a little background has learned a lesson.

But don't make more drama out of this then it deserves.  I don't see anyone here "dragging your name through the mud" and if it is happening elsewhere,
then perhaps you should just disengage from those places.

I don't know, Eclipse. I'd give the cadet a little lattitude with the use of the word 'Nightmare' on this one.
Seeing how the press has taken to doing a complete background check and broadcasting the findings nationally on anyone being reported on for doing the right thing I could see how a young person might find the probing nightmare-ish. Especially with local coverage and gossip.

Cadet, Good job for doing the right thing. Hold your head up high and ignore what is being said about you that might sound negative. I guarantee that part will blow over quickly. It is a sad fact that news outlets are far more interested in reporting on the negative side of ANYTHING than the positive actions of anyone. Luckily it never lasts long.

[ColonelJack]

Let me add my own Bravo Zulu to you, Cadet.  You did the right thing and showed tremendous cool and professionalism.

The press release is a different story and whoever was responsible for that needs (in my opinion) a refresher course on the job of the PAO.  The fact that it became a royal mess, however, is not your fault.  You did well and should be commended for that.

All the best and a happy future to you!

Jack

[Devil Doc]

Any update on this?

[Johnny Yuma]

Sounds like the work of an overzealous PAO. She's GTG for a commander's commendation, at best.

We had a cadet who found his neighbor's house on fire one morning, woke them up and helped get all 4 out. They put him in for SMOV, the city fire chief personally wrote the narrative justifying the award. He got a lifesaving.

[Devil Doc]

So what qualifies you for the SMOV? I mean i've heard some stories, and they only got a Lifesaving

[ol'fido]

I have no first hand knowledge on this or any other potential SMOV situation, but since that's never stopped anyone on CT or in other media from putting forth an opinion, I'll go ahead and add mine.

What may be happening is that NHQ and other echelons are looking at recent history where SMOVs and BMOVs were awarded for situations where the actions were somewhat less than "above and beyond" or "at great risk to themselves" i.e. directing traffic at accidents. There may be a much tougher standard applied because of this. Incidents that 10 or 15 years ago might have resulted in a MOV would now only rate a LSA or ComCom. Plus the fact that many awards submissions depend on the opinion of the respective chain of command and the writing skills of the person writing up the 120. I'm sure we have all heard of situations where we thought a person deserved a MOV and barely received an "attaboy" and others we thought were nothing and the person received a ComCom or LSA.

There is just no hard and fast way to say that this "action" deserves a decoration and that "action" doesn't. It all depends on who did it, who saw it, what was done, who writes it up, how do they write it up, and who endorses, changes, or denies it on its way through the chain of command. To paraphrase, "Nobody can really define heroism, they just know it when they see it." Maybe.

Just a quick, humble opinion.

[Private Investigator]

^ Roger that.

I have put members up for SMOV, BMOV and LSA. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they did not. All I can say is "YMMV" ... 

[Mustang]

Sounds like the PAO's actions should be called into question, not the cadet's.