Issue 32 [April 10, 2011]
The FIREFIGHTER
- Author Unknown
At 6:45 on the morning of Oct. 20, 2010, Capt. David King of the Jackson Fire Department was 15 minutes from the end of his 24-hour shift when the call came in: House fire, 3112 Whitten St.
A half-hour later, he lay crumpled on the floor in 1,500-degree heat, his safety mask melting off his face and flames steadily eating through his fire suit. No way, he reasoned, could any of his peers get to him.
All King knew to do was pray. He pleaded for mercy, begging death to ride faster as the pain became more intense with each breath.
Then he remembered a song he had heard most of his life, about praising God during the roughest of storms. So he gave thanks for the blessings awarded him during his 50 years - among them, a devoted wife, two wonderful children, good friends.
The split second he ended his prayer of thanksgiving, King heard a familiar voice pierce the night-black smoke from only a few feet away.
"Captain!!!!!!"
Christopher Chambliss, a 26-year-old former 400-meter track star at Port Gibson High School, began working with King in 2008, at Station 11 on Terry Road.
"If there is one person Chris looks up to, it is Capt. David King," says Chambliss' wife, Ivory.
King and Chambliss - who as captain and firefighter were always paired together during a fire - had long talks during slow times at the station. King told Chambliss to always stay involved in the activities of his 7-year-old son. When the Chambliss' 18-month-old daughter was born, King said to him: "Treat her like a princess, then she will never allow another man to treat her any less."
They also vowed to never leave the other in a burning building.
"When I heard Capt. King calling for help on the radio that day, there was no way I wasn't going in there to try and get him," Chambliss says. "I mean, how in the world could I ever look his wife in the eyes and say I didn't do my best to save him?"
Chambliss' rescue of King earned him the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Association's 2010-2011 Heart of Heroes award for valor - a category created specifically to recognize Chambliss' heroic actions.
"Every firefighter wonders about that moment, when a life is at stake and they have to make a decision," says Jackson Fire Chief Raymond McNulty. "They wonder, 'What will I do? Will I stay outside or will I be able to pull the trigger and go in and try and save a life?'
"It's what separates the men from the boys. Christopher Chambliss is a man."
So how did a seasoned veteran like King become separated from Chambliss?
Two freak occurrences.
Soon after they entered the home to look for people who might have been trapped, the front room flashed over. "That's when gases get so hot, the room explodes," King explains. "I've been in flashovers before. You don't panic. You just turn around and get out. Your ears may get blistered, but you'll be OK."
But the hose King and Chambliss had used as a path in - and planned to use as a path out - had been tugged too hard, and out of Chambliss' hands, by someone on the outside. Their lifeline was gone.
"Still, I felt pretty sure where the front door was, even though you couldn't see anything because of the smoke," King says. "So I grabbed Chris, turned him around toward the door and ordered everybody out over our radio system."
This is when everything turned sour for King. "I stepped in a small hole," he says, "and it threw my direction off by about two degrees."
Crawling on his hands and knees behind Chambliss and other firefighters, King's path took him slightly right of the others, through an opening to the living room of what turned out to be an abandoned house. The other firefighters made it safely outside.
"As soon as I felt a wall to my left, I knew I was on the wrong side of it," King says. "I turned around and saw nothing but flames."
He could see a faint flash coming from the fire trucks out front. "I thought I could get out that window, but there was a refrigerator or a freezer blocking it," he says. "That's when I looked back and saw even more flames.
King keyed the mike clipped to his shoulder and called out words he never had before: "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Firefighter down! Firefighter down! My God, my God!"
He fought to gather himself. "I kept telling myself, 'think, think.' I had an image of how I could get back out of there, and I started crawling that way. I got as far as the wall, and I had nothing left. I couldn't move anymore."
Chambliss heard King's "mayday" call and was already on his way inside to find him.
"I was on my hands and knees, no line and no nozzle, hoping I could find my friend and praying that we both wouldn't get burned up," Chambliss says. "I was bumping into furniture and all kinds of stuff. I'd have to get up, step over it and then get back down again. It was so hot, even with my mask on I had to close my eyes."
Twelve feet inside the front door, Chambliss heard a call for help from the 10 o'clock position. That is when he screamed "Captain!" and crawled as fast as he could toward the sound.
"When I got to him, he was on his knees and sort of leaning to the left," Chambliss says. "I asked him if he could get up, and he said he didn't think so. That's when I reached around in front of him, grabbed him up under his arms and started dragging him."
Chambliss, 155 pounds after a heavy meal, was lugging 175 pounds of limp weight. They fell four times on their way toward the front door.
"The third time, as he lay there on top of me and flames were all around us, just for a moment I wondered if we were both going to die right there in that house," Chambliss says. "But my wife and kids flashed before my eyes. And I've always told my wife, 'I'm coming home.' It's always been my motto. That's when I got to my feet and started dragging Capt. King again."
Both claim there was plenty of divine intervention along the way.
"Without knowing it, I crawled to the perfect spot for Chris to find me," King says.
"When we fell for the last time, it was at the front door," Chambliss says. "That was it for me. What little bit of energy I had was gone. So if we hadn't been at the front door ... "
As King lay on a bed at University of Mississippi Medical Center, he told Chris: "I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything," Chris responded, dehydrated and sitting in a wheelchair. "You would've done the same for me."
When King's wife, Lynn, arrived, her husband cut his eyes toward Chambliss. "That's the man you need to thank for me being alive," he said.
"It took everything in me to stand there and look at my husband who had given nearly 30 years of his life to civil service and came within 15 seconds of dying," she says. "He was burned so badly, I couldn't touch him. About the only place I could halfway touch was the top of his head, but even that hurt him too bad."
She remembers looking at Chambliss sitting beside her husband, the hurt in his eyes, his refusal to be treated so that he could remain with King until she arrived.
"That man is family now," Lynn King says. "Chris and Ivory both are."
The healing continues.
On a sun-splashed spring day, King and Chambliss drive to the site of the fire. Neither says much at first, but they soon begin retracing their steps and quietly reliving the horrendous moments, standing in the very spot where they almost died.
King's eyes fill with tears and shift toward the man who saved his life.
Friends. Brothers. Forever.
A Hero is someone who is admired for his achievements and his noble qualities. It is someone who is brave and courageous and extremely devoted to something. A Hero is a genuine person who cares for the well being and prosperity of others without seeking any attention for fame or redemption. Someone who goes beyond ones expectations may be considered a Hero.
~As apostolics our heroes should never be these popular hollywood celebrities, but rather those in the Bible and people of God.
So many -so called- apostolics seek after worldly pleasures more than God. We have got to learn and teach those after us to let go of the world and worldly pleasures. Let's seek after God and follow his will. We've got to save ourselves from this untoward generation.
Someday if this world last long enough and we are old or we are dead and gone, somebody will look at us and what we were and we want them to say "Thats my hero, thats what I want to pattern my life after." Everyday we should ask ourselves the question, "Am I doing what it takes to be a hero in someones life?"
I'm not a parent, but I've got parents, and I've seen other parents. I have seen so many parents that did not show love to their children, they just didnt care. Thats sad. And also to be a hero to your children another thing that you have to do is show love to each other as parents. I can say that I have never heard my parents raise their voices in anger at one another. They raised five children in a home of love and taught us the truth. We were never ashamed to bring our friends over. They are my heroes.
The Bible teaches us to show love, not just tell but SHOW LOVE!
There are a lot of parents that are not a part of their childrens life and they expect their children to look up to them, to be their Hero be a part of their life. Teach them how to be a Hero.
Lets live a life so that we can be heroes to those after us.
There is a song "Heroes" that tells alot about what a Hero is.
1
Momma combs his hair and Daddy helps him brush his teeth
Day after day for thirty years the same routine
The special needs he lives with make life seems so unfair
But he thanks God everyday cause he knows mom
and dad are there
chorus
Hes a hero and shes a hero
It doesnt matter that nobody knows their name
They keep on giving to make life worth living
might go unnoticed but they're heroes just the same
2
They tried for many years to have a baby of their own
But God knew a little girl that didnt have a home
Someone elses burden was a blessing in disguise
And now shes got a mom and daddy there to hold her
when she cries
3
Every single parent who must carry twice the load
And those who sacrifice to raise a child thats not their own
They dedicate their time to make a difference in
someone elses life
And in my eyes
Written By: Sonya and Rebecca Isaacs
My first pastor -my grandpa- Eld.Robert Wasden Jr.
He's living with Jesus now. He is a Hero that is missed greatly! My grandpa baptized me in Jesus Name. He was a great Man Of God! He stood for what he believed in. He won his battle and I have no doubt that God said unto him, Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter in.
Happy belated Birthday Grandpa!
I love you and Im looking foward to going to see you!!
March 24, 1930 - June 19, 2009
There are many heroes that I look up to in my life. My Dad and Mom are my biggest heroes in this world. Real men of God that preach the truth and take a stand for whats right..they are my heroes.
WRITTEN BY: Crystal Wasden
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Editors Comments:
I would like to welcome our latest edition to the newsletter staff, CRYSTAL WASDEN. I asked her to tell us about herself and this is what she had to say.
I am 20 years old. I was raised from day one in a church of truth. I have the BEST pastor and pastors wife in the world!! My parents: Bro. & Sis. William Wasden. My desire is to help someone else in their walk with God. I believe that God gave me the gift of writing to do that. I hope and pray that when I share what God has given me through messages I've heard preached that it will help and encourage someone. I have a burden, not only for the lost, but also those that are going through a battle, a valley, I want to help them see that they can make it. Living for God is truly the BEST thing to do!
I also would like to say "THANK YOU" to Bro. JW Grisham for asking me to write this newsletter. I appreciate my brother and all the encouragement he's been to me. I look foward to getting these newsletters in the mail because I know I will be uplifted and encouraged when I finish reading. Thanks so much!
