Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Flint Firefighter Jeremy Turner

UNDERFUNDED FIRST RESPONDERS ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR US.

We are all equal but with out the strength and bravery of first responders we have nothing. Two fires, shots, a rookie then injury. His family will need economic support, his job protected, if it is determined to be intentionally set the prosecution a must. All is not well in Flint but with leadership we have a way out. Without well funded first responders we would have no safety in Flint. Our hearts go out to Jeremy Turner



DID YOU KNOW


A rookie firefighter was badly burned this morning as he fought a fire that may have been intentionally set. [1]

ROOKIE FIREFIGHTER

Rookie firefighter Jeremy Turner, 31, had just been called back by the Flint Fire Department. [1]

NORTH OF HURLEY MEDICAL CENTER, TWO FIRES

The fire happened just north of Hurley Medical Center on Wolcott Street and 8th Avenue.

There were two fires that fire officials believe were intentionally set.

GRANDSON SHOOTING THE PLACE UP

They say the grandson of the people who lived here shot someone earlier.[1]

AK-47 THE GENTLEMANS CHOICE OF WEAPONRY IN FLINT!

Perhaps in retaliation, the house was shot up. There were AK-47 casings all over the house. It was set on fire around midnight and again around 5 a.m.[1]

SECOND FIRE, SHOTS AND A ROOKIE IS SENT IN?

Turner was among the firefighters responding to the second fire. He was at the front door with a hose when the floor beneath him gave way, causing him to drop into the basement, which was engulfed in flames. [1]

The Davis', who live across the street, are surprised and shocked that anyone, including a firefighter made it out of the burning inferno alive.[3]


"This was like a gas tanker blowing up on fire," said Kent. Except it wasn't a tanker, it was a home at the corner of Wolcott and 8th Avenue. The homeowners were not inside.[3]

It was the second time firefighters were at the house on fire in one night. The first time was for the fire, the second time they said they thought it was just a rekindling.[3]

THERESA WHAT WERE YOU THINKING

Battalion Chief Theresa Root says it all happened very fast. "We need to get out now. So the firefighter tapped on Turner's shoulder, and just as he was doing that, the injured firefighter went down, went right through the floor. [1]

UPWARD TREND IN FIRES
The fire continues a disturbing trend of arsons in the city that began in March when the city announced it was laying off firefighters, including Turner.[2]


Already this month, the city has had 24 suspected arsons compared to 22 for the entire month of August last year.[2]

Between late March and mid-May, the city averaged nearly three arson fires a day — numbers that slowed after the city got a federal grant to bring Turner and the other firefighters back to work.[2]


HEROIC RESCURE BY HIS FELLOW FIREFIGHTERS

Into the basement ... into the fire."

As Turner lay helpless in the basement, his fellow firefighters responded quickly. "There were four firefighters had to pull him out, and by the time he came out, it might have been 10 seconds."[1]



EXCRUITATING PAIN, SEND HIM YOUR PRAYERS

According to Root, Turner is in critical condition in the burn unit at Hurley Medical Center, just across the street on Wolcott. "He was 'Am I going to live? Am I going to be able to fight fire again?' And it just breaks you up," Root said. "An excellent firefighter."

Turner, who we talked to back in April, has second- and third-degree burns. "The pain started two or three minutes after we pulled him out, and I guess, according to Jeremy, it's excruciating pain," Root said.[1]

WHAT AN IMPACT ON HIS YOUNG FAMILY

His wife, who's eight months pregnant, is by his bedside right now.

Root says it really hit her hard when Turner held up his arms up, and it was clear that he was badly burned. [1]

IF THIS FIRE WAS INTENTIOPNALLY SET PROSECUTION NEEDED

She believes eventually Turner will be OK. She's never questioned his commitment. "You know you hate to say it goes with the job and it doesn't help when we have people trying to get us hurt or setting these fires, but I do want to you know that Jeremy Turner has told his family that he was born to be a firefighter."[1]

Flint should be proud to have such dedicated men/women working to save their city from the idiots who try to burn it to the ground. Thank you, Flint Fire Department, for saving his life.[cmrtants at1]



[1]

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7612389

[2]
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/08/injured_firefighter_jeremy_tur.html
[3]
http://www.wnem.com/news/24650741/detail.html

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