The long yet heroic day
Today started like any other morning show shift. I got up at 2:30, made my way to the station, sat down at my computer and read the paper. It was no surprise that my first story would be the horrific car crash I had been hearing about on my way into work.
Someone had been driving down 9th Ave., veered off the road into a parking lot, slammed into the wall of a building, bounced back about five-10 metres, rolled over onto its roof and then burst into flames.
When I got to the scene around 5:15 a.m. the 2002 black Volvo was a mangled wreck. The front end of the car was crushed like a tin can with the hood barely hanging onto the hinges. A door and wheel were ripped right off the frame, the fender and bumper were lying at least 10 metres away, and there was debris everywhere. It wasn’t pretty.
The Fire Department had to use the Jaws of Life to free the two people inside the car. Police believe alcohol and high speeds were factors in the crash.
Being a reporter, I have seen many car wrecks and have become somewhat desensitized to the carnage, but people walking and driving by couldn’t help but slow down and stare.
This may sound amazing on its own, and it was, but the remarkable part of the story came from a regular bunch of guys working at a printing press.
Their workplace just happens to be right next to the building that the car slammed into. One of the workers heard the crash and after seeing the flames, grabbed a fire extinguisher and called to his co-workers. As he and another man battled the blaze, the other employees gathered up the rest of the fire extinguishers and brought them out. The fire was snuffed before Emergency Crews arrived.
I think it’s safe to say, if it weren’t for the actions of these men the fire would have kept burning and the outcome for the couple in the car could have been deadly. From passersby to the manager of these workers, everyone is calling them heroes. They put their lives on the line to try and save complete strangers.
Their manager told me they did what everyone would do in that situation. Unfortunately that may not be true.
Not everyone would take that risk for people they don’t know, not everyone would jump up to help as if on instinct and not everyone would work as an organized team in an emergency. No you can’t find these traits in every person.
These men didn’t do what everyone would; these men did what everyone wishes they had the guts to do in a situation like that. This is why I have no problem calling them heroes.
I spent about 6 hours on scene talking about the carnage and the amazing feat of a group of ordinary night shift workers. Although I was exhausted at the end of my shift, I felt a satisfaction in knowing I told a story of an extraordinarily selfless act.