WOMEN HONORED FOR FIRE RESCUE

By Amy Widner/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, February 6, 2010 12:30 AM CST

Two employees from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff became accidental heroes last week when a few wrong turns put them in the right place at the right time.

Fire Chief Dannie Smith presents Lakiesha Long (center) and Tammy Chapman (right) with Heroic Rescue certificates at Monday’s City Council meeting for their part in rescuing a 96-year-old man from a fire. Special to The Commercial/Mike Adam
Kisha Long and Tammy Chapman rescued a 96-year-old, wheelchair-bound man from a house fire on Collegiate Drive at about 3 p.m. Jan. 25.

Chapman can’t explain the events that led them to Tolbert Woods’ door that day — other than divine intervention.

“I know that God just orchestrated every [step of the way],” Chapman said. “If it had been two or three minutes either way, we might not have seen him in that door [trying to get out of his burning house].”

The two women work in the School of Business and Management at UAPB. They set out on a simple errand that they’ve done many times before: Driving across campus to pick up the rosters from the administration building.

“Normally, only one or the other of us goes, but for some reason, we decided we were both going to go,” Chapman said. “I don’t know why — well, I know now.”

Chapman was driving and — unbelievably, in an area she drives every day — missed the turn. She had three immediate places to turn around, but missed the first one of those as well.

“So there I am, laughing and saying that I must be losing my mind to be making all these mistakes — then we turn, and we see smoke,” Chapman said.

Unsure at first of what they were seeing, the women drove to the end of the street where they turned around in a cul-de-sac. It was on the second pass of the house that they saw Woods, trying to roll his wheelchair out a side door of the house.

“It was just horrible,” Chapman said. “He was rolling his chair forward, and it would hit that little hump in the door and roll backwards.”

Chapman and Long ended up having to lift Woods, wheelchair and all, over the hump.

“We pushed him down to the street,” Long said, “trying to talk to 911 at the same time. It happened so fast. We just thought what we would want someone to do if it was us, and we just did it ... I just want to thank God that we missed that turn and ended up on that road at the right time.”

Still thinking the fire was relatively small, Chapman went back into the house to see if she could put out the fire.

“The whole kitchen was just engulfed,” Chapman said.

The Pine Bluff Fire Department arrived moments later and was able to control the fire fairly quickly, Lt. Shauwn Howell said.

Howell and Fire Chief Dannie Smith presented the women with the department’s Heroic Award at Monday’s Pine Bluff City Council meeting.

Howell said the department isn’t encouraging people to behave recklessly around fire, but wanted to honor Long and Chapman’s life-saving actions.

“They acted, and that’s what we wanted to recognize,” Howell said. “It’s very unusual [for everyday people to step up like that] and that’s why we wanted to recognize these women.”

Long and Chapman said they don’t feel like heroes, they just felt lucky to have been in the position to help.

“Whether you realize it or not, you really, truly reacted in an heroic manner, and we thank you for that,” Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. said at the council meeting.

Chapman said she had never thought about how she would respond in an emergency, but she knows now.

“What I did learn is that I think that if he had told me to go back inside to get someone else, I would have done it,” Chapman said
 

Fire Chief Dannie Smith presents Lakiesha Long (center) and Tammy Chapman (right) with Heroic Rescue certificates at Monday’s City Council meeting for their part in rescuing a 96-year-old man from a fire. Special to The Commercial/Mike Adam