Photo By Sgt. Anika Avila | Firefighters Curtis Haug (left), Captain Kevin Crandell (middle), and Jose Peralta...... read more read more
'Protecting those who defend America' are the words proudly painted at the bottom of the sign standing before Fire Station 402. As one of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow's two stations, the fire house is located on the Yermo Annex. The station specializes in truck and rescue work and consists of two captains, each with a crew of five to seven firefighters.
Not only does this station uphold its valiant motto by responding to emergencies on base, but the fire house responds to crises in the local community also. Captain Kevin Crandell, a firefighter at Fire Station 402, explains how his crew assists local first responders.
“When we go on mutual aid calls,” he said, “we go help them. We run mutual aid with Barstow city daily. We run mutual aid with county fire daily. We run mutual aid with the surrounding agencies on almost a daily bases.”
What was not commonplace for Crandell and his crew, however, was the multi-agency rescue that occurred January 12. A man had fallen in an over-20-foot hole at his house near Barstow, requiring a confined space rescue. Although Barstow first responders had initially received the call, Fire Station 402 was also called upon and dispatched one truck and four firefighters. Crandell and his firefighters Jose Peralta, Curtis Haug, and William Moorman arrived at the scene within minutes.
Crandell and his crew collaborated with Barstow first responders and a rescue team from San Bernardino County to carefully strategize a plan to extract the man without any undue harm. Two challenges had to be overcome in order to accomplish the mission.
The first obstacle they encountered was that of a language barrier. The man in need of rescuing was Spanish-speaking and therefore could not communicate with the first responders. This challenge was quickly overcome due to the efforts of the MCLB Barstow team from Fire Station 402. Peralta was the only first responder on the scene who could also speak Spanish. He was quickly assigned the task of interpreting and staying as near to the man as he could. Peralta had lain near the hole, with his head over the edge, translating to the man all that was happening in the rescue effort.
"Being on the edge right there," Peralta said, "reassuring him that we're doing our best to come up with a game plan and trying to formulate something so we can get him out safely, and reassuring his family as well."
During the rescue, this played a critical role in helping to keep the man as calm as possible. The second challenge the crew faced proved to be more difficult and took more time to overcome.
“There was a concrete plate that, when he stepped across, whatever it was sitting on washed away or deteriorated over the years,” Crandell said. “When he fell, he was about 22 feet down and the concrete lid was about 2,000 – 2,500 pounds and kind of cantilevered, turned, and fell down on top of him. It was about 12 feet above him, suspended in the air.”
Anchors had to be carefully drilled into the concrete lid, providing a secure attachment for the plate to be lifted out. A heavy wrecker from American Towing & Recover Inc. was then able to pull the concrete out of the man's way. Once the lid was removed, Peralta and Haug dropped an extension ladder into the hole.
The man was able to climb out to safety after being trapped for approximately 12 hours. He was given medical aid and transported to Barstow Community Hospital. The man was released shortly after and returned home with his family.
“It feels good when you can do something for someone in need,” Peralta stated. “For me, it’s just a sigh of relief. Seeing him reunited with his family was a good feeling. I know that if my family or myself were in that situation, I would hope for the fire department to get me out.”
Although this call was a unique emergency for the crew, Haug felt the regular training firefighters aboard MCLB Barstow conduct helped prepare the team for the approximately five-and-a-half-hour rescue. He recognized how the firefighters’ ability to work cohesively alongside the other agencies led to the successful rescue.
“Good teamwork,” said Haug. “All of us coming together and working together to get that accomplished. We’re pretty fortunate with the equipment we have here in training. The bulk of the equipment that was used, we trained on and used before. That’s always a nice feeling when it’s not the first time you’re seeing something or doing something."
For Crandell, he was most proud of not only his crew's capabilities but also their camaraderie. He views his team as extended family and recognized how this closeness enabled the crew to come together and work as one.
“I work with a great group of guys,” he said. “My guys, they did it all. They knew their place and what they needed to do. The training that we’ve done together and everything that we’ve accomplished as a team or as a crew, it was able to come together there. So it wasn’t just one thing that one person did, it was the whole team.”
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2023 16:24 |
| Story ID: | 437404 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, US |
| Web Views: | 316 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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