- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,176
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
KINGSTON — Looking up at a trapped disabled man, there was no hesitation and no questions were asked when Kingston Police Const. Walter O’Connor made the suggestion to scale a wall and climb into a burning building on Monday night.
O’Connor and Const. Zane Brillinger were both about three-and-a-half hours into a busy overnight shift on patrol when they got the call to the apartment block at 16 Russell St. Initially the call was to assist another officer who responded to what was “a small fire in the hallway.”
“We could hear the radio chatter, the officer requested more units to come, that it was a lot worse than what initially came in,” O’Connor said. “We could hear by the sound of his voice that he was a little under pressure.”
O’Connor, who was a police officer in Ireland for nearly a decade before immigrating to Canada a few years ago, responded and was met by Brillinger. When they arrived, the first officer was evacuating the building and residents were running out.
O’Connor started to check basement windows to ensure everyone had got out. Then a man pointed out an elderly resident in a second-floor window.
“So I shouted up at him, ‘Sir, you need to leave, the building is on fire,’ but he’s shouting down that he can’t get out, he’s disabled,” O’Connor recalled.
Telling Brillinger, they ran over to the stairwell but were met by flames almost a couple of metres high. There was no way they were going in that way. So the pair ran back over to the man and there was only one simple solution.
“O’Connor just looked at me and in his best Irish accent he said: ‘Brillinger, give me a boost,'” Brillinger said, with a laugh.
Bracing himself against the wall, O’Connor climbed up Brillinger like a jungle gym.
“I got up on his back, his shoulders, grabbed on to a pipe and kind of Spider-Man-ed up the building,” O’Connor said. “Got up to his window, had to open it up, punched through the screen, and got in.”
Once inside the smoky apartment, it was time to determine how to get out. They couldn’t take the stairs, and while communicating with Brillinger, they considered passing the man out through window. But by the time the man was set up to do that, Kingston Fire and Rescue had arrived.
“We were confident (O’Connor) was going to be safe because he had that window where he could get out pretty quick if he needed to,” Brillinger said. “It happened pretty fast, we work so well as a team and you’re not going to second-guess your partner. I know (O’Connor) has been around and I trust my officers. “¦ When he says he’s going in, I trust his judgment.”
For about five minutes, O’Connor and the man waited in the window for the fire department to bring in a ladder as smoke slowly filled the apartment.
“So I just kept him sitting in the window while the fire department got the ladder set up,” O’Connor said. “Then I just passed him out to the firefighter, who took him down, and I just followed down the ladder myself.
“That’s about it.”
Once outside, O’Connor helped with scene security but was confronted by one of the fire captains, who told him to get oxygen. O’Connor admitted that at first he ignored the order because he felt fine.
“I thought it was way better than it was. Then I started to cough and started to throw up a little bit,” O’Connor said. “So I thought I’d better get on the oxygen.”
After receiving oxygen and some water, O’Connor said he felt better and went on to finish his shift that night.
O’Connor added that he was just the officer who saw the man, and if any other officer had seen him first, they would have been through the window, too.
“Training just kind of kicked in. We didn’t have to ask questions, (Brillinger) didn’t try to talk me out of it,” O’Connor said.
The fire is now being investigated as a case of arson.
scrosier@postmedia.com
查看原文...
O’Connor and Const. Zane Brillinger were both about three-and-a-half hours into a busy overnight shift on patrol when they got the call to the apartment block at 16 Russell St. Initially the call was to assist another officer who responded to what was “a small fire in the hallway.”
“We could hear the radio chatter, the officer requested more units to come, that it was a lot worse than what initially came in,” O’Connor said. “We could hear by the sound of his voice that he was a little under pressure.”
O’Connor, who was a police officer in Ireland for nearly a decade before immigrating to Canada a few years ago, responded and was met by Brillinger. When they arrived, the first officer was evacuating the building and residents were running out.
O’Connor started to check basement windows to ensure everyone had got out. Then a man pointed out an elderly resident in a second-floor window.
“So I shouted up at him, ‘Sir, you need to leave, the building is on fire,’ but he’s shouting down that he can’t get out, he’s disabled,” O’Connor recalled.
Telling Brillinger, they ran over to the stairwell but were met by flames almost a couple of metres high. There was no way they were going in that way. So the pair ran back over to the man and there was only one simple solution.
“O’Connor just looked at me and in his best Irish accent he said: ‘Brillinger, give me a boost,'” Brillinger said, with a laugh.
Bracing himself against the wall, O’Connor climbed up Brillinger like a jungle gym.
“I got up on his back, his shoulders, grabbed on to a pipe and kind of Spider-Man-ed up the building,” O’Connor said. “Got up to his window, had to open it up, punched through the screen, and got in.”
Once inside the smoky apartment, it was time to determine how to get out. They couldn’t take the stairs, and while communicating with Brillinger, they considered passing the man out through window. But by the time the man was set up to do that, Kingston Fire and Rescue had arrived.
“We were confident (O’Connor) was going to be safe because he had that window where he could get out pretty quick if he needed to,” Brillinger said. “It happened pretty fast, we work so well as a team and you’re not going to second-guess your partner. I know (O’Connor) has been around and I trust my officers. “¦ When he says he’s going in, I trust his judgment.”
For about five minutes, O’Connor and the man waited in the window for the fire department to bring in a ladder as smoke slowly filled the apartment.
“So I just kept him sitting in the window while the fire department got the ladder set up,” O’Connor said. “Then I just passed him out to the firefighter, who took him down, and I just followed down the ladder myself.
“That’s about it.”
Once outside, O’Connor helped with scene security but was confronted by one of the fire captains, who told him to get oxygen. O’Connor admitted that at first he ignored the order because he felt fine.
“I thought it was way better than it was. Then I started to cough and started to throw up a little bit,” O’Connor said. “So I thought I’d better get on the oxygen.”
After receiving oxygen and some water, O’Connor said he felt better and went on to finish his shift that night.
O’Connor added that he was just the officer who saw the man, and if any other officer had seen him first, they would have been through the window, too.
“Training just kind of kicked in. We didn’t have to ask questions, (Brillinger) didn’t try to talk me out of it,” O’Connor said.
The fire is now being investigated as a case of arson.
scrosier@postmedia.com
查看原文...
