Modesto fire department campus way rescue (video from modesto fire department).
Modesto firefighters responded at 5:36 a.m. on Saturday February 14, 2014 to a fire at an apartment complex at 311 Campus Way.
The fire was on the second floor of the apartment complex where Delores Dobbins and her daughter, Tammy Dobbins, age 39, retreated to a bathroom. Both women were rescued by Modesto Fire Department firefighters after they dropped their dogs to a dumpster that police wheeled under the window to absorb the shock of the drop.
Modesto Fire Department received multiple 911 calls, and one of the calls was from Tammy Dobbins, who told the dispatcher that she and her mother were trapped inside her mother’s small apartment. Delores Dobbins told the dispatcher that smoke and flames were right outside of their door, and they could feel the heat surrounding them.
Police arrived first and wheeled a dumpster under a second floor window so that the residents could toss their two dogs into the dumpster.
Engine 1 arrives on scene, then Engine 4 arrives, then Engine 5. Firefighters go to rescue mode, and also bring a hose line to the “delta side” (right side from the front of the building). Fire command declares they are in offensive mode and rescue mode. The rescue takes place at the “C-Charlie” side (rear of the building).
The residents knew they could not escape through the front door, which was engulfed in flames. The women were forced to retreat to a bathroom prior to arrival of firefighters.
Modesto firefighters responded with video recording on a firefighter’s helmetcam. In the helmetcam video, flames are seen blowing out much of the first floor windows, engulfing the first floor, and rising up to the second floor. Fire crews were aware that Tammy Dobbins and her mother were trapped in the bathroom on the second floor.
Firefighters brought two ground ladders to the second floor window and rescued both women to safety — carrying them down one of the ground ladders.
Modesto firefighters Jason Wyatt and Jesse Miguel comprised the crew that rescued Tammy Dobbins and her mother.
The video was presented at Tuesday night’s Modesto City Council meeting, when both Wyatt and Miguel were honored by the mayor and the city council for their heroic actions.
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