go this way. go this way. go this way. january 2010. a two-story home in the town of randolph, new jersey, is on fire, and it s a life or death call. when they called us, they told us it was a house fire with people possibly trapped in the structure. alan bell, jr. is an 11-year veteran of the dover volunteer fire department. his colleague, louis morales with the randolph fire department is also on the scene. we saw a lot of smoke coming from the first floor and lot of smoke coming from the second floor, in the front of the house. morales learns a woman is trapped on the second floor. he and his team quickly assess the situation. when i arrived, i just saw the randolph fire department on scene establishing water supply and trying to get into the building to be able to make a rescue of the victim that was reportedly trapped. shortly after arriving, alan bell pulls out a brand new
gadget, a helmet camera, giving a rare glimpse of what firefighting is like up close. i got it for christmas of 2009 so probably about six weeks before this fire. that was the first time i actually used the camera. because of a change in regulations, it s the first and only time bell will use his camera on scene. he turns it on and goes about his job for the day. we are initially what they called a rapid intervention team to extract firefighters if they get lost or hurt or injured. morales is part of another team, one that will enter the burning home. we started to go into the front of the house. we noticed that there was all the entrances were blocked in. the firefighters then moved to the back of the house, hoping they have better access to the trapped woman. i was just thinking of getting this lady out. the first priority was to get this person out and get her to safety. she s on the second floor.
able to breathe, i knew it was better than being inside and stuck in there. the plan is for morales to bail out of the window head-first, and work his way down the ladder. got to try and get him down safe so he doesn t get hurt. due to the amount of heat, my legs gave out from under me and i rolled down the ladder. he just fell. come on down head first. we just tried to do what we could to break his fall so that he wouldn t fall on his neck. i remember hitting my head really hard, and that s when i went unconscious and i don t remember anything from there. mayday. firefighter down. fellow firefighters drag morales to safety. fortunately, his injuries are considered minor. i was knocked unconscious, had a head concussion. morales is lucky. sadly, the fire claims the life of the woman trapped inside. she tried to come out of the room and she obviously couldn t
she s on the second floor. she was in this window right here. if we can get this up to the roof. morales makes his way inside. a lot of smoke, very black, dark smoke. we could see some flames seeping through the first floor going into the second floor. the room got bright real quick and started getting really, really hot. i ve been in prior fires, and i have never experienced the type of heat i experienced that day. meanwhile, outside at the back of the house, alan bell is assisting other firefighters. we were making entry and climbing up on the roof, and there was a ladder extended there. but suddenly, louis morales signals he s in trouble. police officer went by and i yelled at him that i was burning up, that they needed to get a ladder to me. couple other guys went up to
able to breathe, i knew it was better than being inside and stuck in there. the plan is for morales to bail out of the window head-first, and work his way down the ladder. got to try and get him down safe so he doesn t get hurt. due to the amount of heat, my legs gave out from under me and i rolled down the ladder. he just fell. come op down head first. we just tried to do what we could to break his fall so that he wouldn t fall on his neck. i remember hitting my head really hard, and that s when i went unconscious and i don t remember anything from there. mayday. firefighter down. fellow firefighters drag morales to safety. fortunately, his injuries are considered minor. i was knocked unconscious, had a head concussion. morales is lucky. sadly, the fire claims the life of the woman trapped inside. she tried to come out of the room and she obviously couldn t