DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Two off-duty firefighters, Lt. Jason Todd and Btln. Chief Doug Wehmeyer, were honored by the Turtle Creek Township Trustees for rescuing a man from a fiery crash.
Todd And Wehmeyer were off-duty and returning home after participating in training exercises in Bowling Green, Ohio on October 13, when they came upon a fiery crash along Ohio Route 741 in Warren County.
Wehmeyer followed in his fathers footsteps and became a firefighter. He said, "All of in a sudden, there's cars slowing down and stopping and there's a little bit of smoke on the side of the road."
Todd followed his boyhood dream to become a firefighter and recalled, "We were coming south on 741 and we noticed some people that were sprinting along the side of the road."
The men were in the middle of a conversation about getting home and spending time with their families – and then everything changed.
Todd said, "I immediately jumped out of the truck."
Wehmeyer said, "I called into dispatch and told them where we were and what we had."
Todd added, "I went down there to try and figure out what was going on."
Wehmeyer said, "Jason looked back at me and said hey this guy is stuck in the car."
Their adrenaline rushed once they realized they happened upon a two-vehicle, head-on collision, because they did not have their normal safety equipment or gear.
If they were at the firehouse in Deerfield Township, they would get a call from 911 dispatch and leave with a total of four men on a truck carrying 750 gallons of water – and they would be wearing their fire retardant.
On this day, they had a fire extinguisher and a long met stick that looked a lot like a crow bar.
They knew they were risking their lives by approaching the burning car and not having all of the gear they are used to using.
So they relied on each other and their training.
Wehmeyer said, "It was reassuring having them there, because by myself there was a lot less that could have been done.”
“But working together we were able to do things,” he added.
They emptied their extinguisher and the fire was melting the interior of the trapped motorist's car.
"It was ‘go’ time. We had to get in there and free him from the vehicle." said Todd.
Wehmeyer explained he had really only seen car crashes resulting in flames so quickly on television,
"For the thousands of wrecks we've been on, you just don't see that happen very often,” said Wehmeyer.
The firefighters worked together to rescue the motorist.
The Turtle Creek Township Trustees recognized both firefighters two weeks later with plaques of appreciation, but neither man believes they are heroes.
Todd explained, "I just think that any fire guy with that type of training, pulling up on a situation like that would have done the same thing.”
Wehmeyer told of a firefighters mission. "There's a line: 'The very last heroic thing a firefighter does is put on his badge for the first time – after that everything else is just work.' And I think that holds true.”
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