Couple thankful for support
By Bruce Rolfe
Firefighters never know what they will face on each call.
Each call can bring its own unknown challenges.
However it becomes especially difficult when firefighters arrive at a scene and the person they are called to help is a fellow firefighter.
That’s what the Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Department and two other local fire departments faced at a house fire December 23 at 183 West Battle Creek Street in the City of Galesburg.
The homeowners are Tim Hearld and Samantha Blodgett.
Firefighters never know what they will face on each call.
Each call can bring its own unknown challenges.
However it becomes especially difficult when firefighters arrive at a scene and the person they are called to help is a fellow firefighter.
That’s what the Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Department and two other local fire departments faced at a house fire December 23 at 183 West Battle Creek Street in the City of Galesburg.
The homeowners are Tim Hearld and Samantha Blodgett.
Hearld was a member of the Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Department approximately 22 years and currently serves with the Comstock Fire Department.
Firefighters have a unique bond within their own department and with other departments, making calls to help a fellow firefighter disturbing for local firefighters.
“It hit close to home to all of us firefighters because he is a friend. We’re all family. That was a family member’s house for all of us,” said Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Chief Kevin Roomsberg.
He said the second floor caved into the first floor and the house is a total loss.
He said firefighters who crawled through the house were able to locate some old photographs and other personal items.
“There was a lot of guys working their tails off just trying to do what ever they could to salvage anything,” said Roomsberg.
“There were seven guys in a hole crawling over stuff trying to find any memory, any family heirlooms, anything they could so they would have something,” adds the local fire chief.
There were no injuries, but Hearld said a dog inside the home at the time did not survive the fire.
Hearld said the couple has been overwhelmed by support and truly appreciated the effort made by firefighters attempting to salvage as many personal items as possible.
“Words can’t describe how grateful I am for the support that we have received. We are truly blessed by our family and friends and the brothers and sisters of the fire service. The emergency service in general,” said Hearld, currently a full time firefighter at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren through the Department of Army.
Roomsberg said Hearld was on a ride along with Life EMS as part of a paramedic class he is taking when the fire call came in.
Roomsberg said because the fire was so intense when firefighters arrived, it made it difficult to get a quick stop on the blaze.
“We’re a brotherhood. You’re watching your brother’s house burning. You’re doing everything you can but you know it’s a loss just because of how much fire there was,” adds the local fire chief.
Roomsberg said when his department arrived at the scene, the two-story home was fully involved.
“We had a hard time putting it out because the structure became unsafe. We couldn’t even get into it because the second floor caved into the first floor so we had to fight it from the outside,” explained Roomsberg.
Roomsberg said a member of his fire department brought a telehandler that helped pull part of the house siding off, allowing firefighters to make holes in the side to get water into areas the firefighters initially were unable to get at.
He said due to the extent of the damage he feels it will be difficult to determine a cause of the fire.
Roomsberg said the Kalamazoo Township Fire Marshall performed an initial investigation.
Structure fires can be very exhausting and Roomsberg said the house fire on Battle Creek Street was taxing.
“Everything you do on a fire scene is physical work. And then you’re going into the house with zero visibility conditions, heavy fire. You’re trying to get into the house,” said Roomsberg.
Fire hoses need to be pulled to locations to fight the fire and firefighters were on ladders punching holes in the side of the house, attempting to get water inside the house on the fire.
Roomsberg said a support system by the community was greatly appreciated. He said someone purchased pizzas from Pizza King, water was provided, and neighbors made coffee for firefighters.
“A lot of community support. The neighbor’s yard was full of people coming down to give support and do what they could. That’s the nice part of living in a small community,” adds Roomsberg.
Hearld said the home was covered by insurance and the couple encourages homeowners to make sure their insurance policy sufficiently covers their home and contents.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help Tim and Samantha rebuild after the fire. The link is https://gofund.me/514ba246a.
(Photo by Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Chief Kevin Roomsberg)
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