Firefighters go beyond call of duty to help resident
Keith Cousins Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 11 months AGO
COURTESY PHOTOCoeur d’Alene Firefighter Jack Craven uses a snow blower to clear the driveway at Mo Ward’s Coeur d’Alene duplex. The fire department responded to the Fifth Street residence on Sunday after Ward’s brother fell, and firefighters stepped up to finsh clearing snow from the driveway while other personnel tended to the man’s injury.
Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Capt. Jake Bieker, Firefighter Jack Craven and Firefighter Colby Ivey work to clear the snow from Mo Ward’s driveway in Coeur d’Alene. The men responded to the Fifth Street residence on Sunday after Ward’s brother fell, and firefighters stepped up to finish clearing snow from the driveway while other personnel tended to the man’s injury. Courtesy photo
COEUR d'ALENE — Members of the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department went above and beyond the call of duty this weekend to help residents in need.
On Sunday morning, Mo Ward's brother headed into the cold to the duplex on Fifth Street where Ward and her sister reside. The man began using a snow blower to clear his sisters' driveway, but lost his grip on the machine and fell onto his back.
Ward called 911 and informed emergency personnel her brother fell and couldn't move, which prompted a response from a Coeur d'Alene Fire Department fire truck and ambulance.
When one of the firefighters grabbed the snow blower, Ward said she thought he was moving it out of the way. Instead, the firefighter began to use the snow blower to finish clearing the driveway, while two others used shovels to assist.
The trio even cleared the snow from the alley behind the duplex.
"It was completely selfless," Ward told The Press Tuesday. "I was so amazed by it because it was not something that you would expect to happen."
According to the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, the firefighters who responded to the duplex and assisted with the snow removal were: Capt. Jake Bieker, Firefighter Colby Ivey, and Firefighter Jack Craven. Firefighters Robert Anderson and Kevin Latscha were in the ambulance and treated Ward's brother at the scene.
Without the firefighters and paramedics going the extra mile to remove the snow, Ward said she would have been unable to get her small car out of the driveway. But, thanks to the assist, Ward and her sister were able to leave their residence and meet their brother when he arrived at Kootenai Health.
Ward added her brother was examined at the hospital, but not admitted, and is recovering from the fall.
"We are just so grateful for them," Ward said. "It was such an amazing thing to have them do that and I am just so proud of the job they do for us."
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