Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Houx | Indiana National Guard Spc. Jeffery Foreman, a Task Force 38 tactical operations...... read more read more
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Task Force 38 Soldiers noticed a generator was on fire Saturday, Feb. 20, as they were leaving their work area after their shift ended that morning.
Upon realizing the generator, which powered the lights around the Task Force 38 headquarters building, was burning, Staff Sgt. Sara Jeffrey, Task Force 38's battle non-commissioned officer, dropped everything and ran back into the building for help from Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dexter Lawless, Task Force 38 assistant tactical operations officer.
"I ran to the building to get help," said Jeffrey, Shelbyville, Ind., resident. "Chief Lawless was in there, and he is a firefighter."
One of the unit's tactical operations center battle radio telephone operators, Spc. Jeffery Foreman, was leaving with Jeffrey after their overnight shift ended when they noticed the generator fire.
"I started to follow her but I decided that I would try to put out this fire before it progressed into an uncontrollable state," said Foreman, a Morristown, Ind., resident. "I remembered the guard shack had a fire extinguisher in it, so I ran back inside the guard shack and ripped the fire extinguisher off its stand from the wall."
Foreman then ran over to the generator, opened the hood to expose the smoke and flames, and then extinguished it as quickly as possible. After extinguishing the fire, he opened the other side of the generator and quenched that side as well.
"I wanted to be certain the fire was out," he said. "I am very happy that this fire did not escalate to an intolerable level because who knows what would have happened if no one recognized and extinguished the fire, as fast as it was."
Before Jeffrey made it back outside with support and extra fire extinguishers, Foreman had the fire completely extinguished.
"By the time the chief and I got out there, in about a minute or less, he had extinguished the fire all by himself," said Jeffrey.
Jeffrey said her section completed fire extinguisher training in the fall, and attributed that training to Foreman's familiarization with the extinguisher and quick reaction to the generator fire.
"Spc. Foreman knew to how to operate the fire extinguisher and had the confidence to do so," said Jeffrey. "I am proud of Spc. Foreman, because he acted quickly and without hesitation. He put himself in harm's way and showed personal courage."
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2010 04:01 |
| Story ID: | 45771 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 108 |
This work, Soldier uses training, extinguishes generator fire, by SFC Elizabeth Houx, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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