Firefighters from a Mission District fire station has been awarded the highest level group “valor award” from a firefighting periodical, Firehouse Magazine, for their efforts in rescuing victims of a deadly early-morning fire at 24th and Treat streets in March 2015.
At 4:30 a.m., the family dwelling above a corner store the Shaibi family ran became engulfed in flame and smoke. All five members of the family were extricated from the blaze, but both the father, Mohammed Shaibi, and his 13-year-old daughter Amal Shaibi later succumbed to their injuries. A fire investigation later indicated the fire originated at some worn power cords.
“It’s definitely an honor,” said Adam Wood, one of the firefighters there that day. “Though I think it’s tempered by the fact that two people died that night.”
In recognition of the family’s loss, the station has decided to pass on the cash award, the amount of which Firehouse Magazine did not disclose, to the family. The Shaibis have returned to their home.
Though the fire was by no means the largest recent residential fire in the Mission, it was particularly dangerous because of how severe it had become by the time firefighters arrived. As a result, firefighters had to think on their feet and take serious risks to get the trapped family out.
SFFD spokesperson Jonathan Baxter said the award recognizes extraordinary rescue efforts made, even in cases where individuals are killed. In this case, Wood said, firefighters recognized the severity of the situation and quickly determined that their usual approach – a regimented procedure in which each group of firefighters is assigned a specific task, like ascending to the roof to attack the fire or supplying water to other engines – would not suffice.
“There’s a sort of flowchart that everyone follows, and this one had to be completely rewritten on the spot,” Wood said. “But it was all done through really clear communication from one company to the other.”
Firefighters quickly realized that people were trapped in the building and decided to get them out, at heightened risk to themselves.
Captain Eric Leal, Firefighter Saade Magaly, Firefighter and Paramedic Paul Mangiola and Probationary Firefighter Mario Riley set up ladders to the second-floor window to start rescuing children from the window.
Lt. Sean Bonetti, Lt. Randy Hiro and firefighters Victor Hurtado, John Dunn and Wood searched the building. They did so without a hose line which, Baxter explained, significantly increases the risk of being overwhelmed by fire because the firefighter has no water at hand.
While Hiro and Hurtado were removing one victim and Dunn another, Wood was cut off by a “flash,” essentially a fireball caused by a gust of air. At the rear of the building, he found another victim, and was met by Duane Rivera and Frank Wong, who helped bring the victim outside to perform CPR.
“These are split second decisions, and with the dynamics of the fire that’s going on, that’s something that an individual is going to make,” Baxter said.
The firefighters were thrown another curveball downstairs, where they discovered two people had been sleeping in the rear of the store. Firefighters Tony Rocha and Chet Spirlin needed to use both a prying tool and a hacksaw to get the door open and release the two victims.
“There are incidences where … fire crews have not gone in because there’s ‘too much fire.’ And that’s where an individual comes into play, where it’s above and beyond,” Baxter said.