Three Union County firefighters were honored recently with a prestigious award during the South Carolina Firefighters Association Convention in Myrtle Beach.

J.D. McCarley, Kevin Smith and Chris West received the Meritorious Action Award for pulling a Monarch man from his burning home on Sept. 24. They were the only firefighters in the state to receive the award. They were nominated for the award by Philip Russell, training manager for the South Carolina Fire Academy and a fellow firefighter with Smith and West at Southside Fire Department.

The three were among the first on the scene when Brad Gibson’s home on Monarch Highway caught fire. Gibson remained hospitalized until his death in March. Authorities said the fire was started by a lava lamp.

McCarley is assistant chief with the Monarch Fire Department, chief of the Union County Rescue Squad, a firefighter with the South Carolina Air National Guard, a full-time firefighter with Croft Fire Department and a retired state trooper. Smith is a county deputy and fourth lieutenant with the Southside Fire Department, which was called to assist Monarch in fighting the fire at Gibson’s home. West, a senior trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, is a volunteer with Monarch and the City of Union fire departments, the Union County Rescue Squad and is a lieutenant with Southside.

During the presentation of the award at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on July 18, a prerecorded interview with the three firefighters was played on large screens for the audience to view.

Southside Fire Chief Michael “Bird” Lancaster spoke during the interview. Lancaster gave the events of the night of the fire. He said the three firefighters did a textbook rescue. West and McCarley helped knock the flames down and then went in to find Gibson.

“They knew they had a victim in the house,” Lancaster said.

After hearing a sound, the two remained perfectly quiet in an attempt to find Gibson in the still hot house, their visibility diminished by the smoke.

“They located the victim and got him out,” Lancaster said. “Kevin was at the rear of the structure. He made entry through the back door and they extricated Brad out the back with Kevin’s help. They handed Brad straight over to EMS, who was at the back door waiting.”

Lancaster said the fact that Gibson lost his life was a hard pill to swallow for firefighters.

“And we still need to keep Brad’s family in our prayers and they continue to go through the grieving process,” he said.

All three men said they were honored to receive the award but wished the outcome for Gibson would have been different.

“I told them I didn’t feel right about accepting the award on the terms; I hated to see a life lost,” Smith said. “But it made me feel good knowing I was trying to help somebody.”

All three men were honored by their respective departments this year for their part in pulling Gibson from the fire. Larry Robinson, who was chief of the Monarch Fire Department at the time of the fire, also was honored by his department in December. Robinson, a sergeant with the Union Public Safety Department, was on his way home from work and was the person who actually spotted the fire. He used his radio to call 911.

McCarley, who has been a fire volunteer for 30 years, said the award meant a lot, but it was hard to enjoy it knowing Gibson ultimately lost his battle. Through all the fires he had helped to put out, the blaze at Gibson’s home was the first time he ever had the opportunity to use the life-saving skills firefighters train so much to develop.

“After all these years there had never been a case where someone said, ‘There is someone in there and you are going to have to go get them,’” McCarley said. “There was a lot working against us and what really helped the most was the good Lord, there is no doubt in my mind. He guided us where we needed to be.”

Firefighters responded quickly with trucks and were fortunate to have volunteer Dr. John Flood on the scene. Flood now is Monarch Fire Chief.

Team effort

“It was a team effort,” McCarley said. “The three of us were recognized, but in reality, everybody there that night should have been recognized.”

West said he appreciated the award.

“But you never want to get the recognition that way,” he said. “It is good that you do your job, but that is not why you do it.”

Russell said he nominated the three firefighters for the award because of their actions and the manner in which they performed the skills of their profession.

“These firefighters entered into a super heated atmosphere where there was very limited visibility,” Russell said. “These firefighters had to use their sense of hearing to listen for the breathing patterns of the victim. They had to use the ability to get their eyes below the smoke filled conditions to visually see the location of the victim and then the calm to properly communicate where they were in the house and where they would best provide removal. The radio communication was specific for Firefighter Kevin Smith to know where the interior team of the house was and where he needed to go to assist with victim removal. Once the victim was removed, their job was not over as they re-entered the structure to continue to extinguish the fire. In short, these three firefighters used the training received for interior structural fire fighting in a text book fashion to affect a victim rescue.”

Firefighter’s goal

Russell said the goal of a firefighter is to rescue someone before they fall victim to the toxic vapors and heat generated by a fire, but too many times firefighters are too late because of the speed of the vapors.

“Many firefighters go through their entire career without providing a successful rescue,” he said. “While the effects of this fire did eventually claim a life, without the valiant effort of these three firefighters, the speed of the actions, combined with the high degree of competency of skills, there would have been no chance of survival. All of us in the Union County Fire Service are saddened by the eventual loss of life that this fire caused. The Union County Fire Service is made up of citizen membership that strives daily to protect and serve those that live in our county. Our fire service appreciates the support that each community provides to their local departments. The actions of these three firefighters deserved to be recognized for the job they performed. Their actions are a representation of the abilities of our entire county fire service and how fortunate we in Union County are to have such dedicated volunteers that will go above and beyond to look after the safety of our citizens.”

Russell said everyone should take the time to regularly test their smoke detector.

“This device is designed, if properly placed, to give you the time you need to get notified of a fire before the toxic smoke makes you rescue a race against time,” he said.