2 South Jersey Firefighters Honored For Bravery After Saving Family Trapped Inside Burning Apartment
MILLVILLE, N.J. (CBS) -- A pair of firefighters in South Jersey are being honored for their bravery. They ran into a burning apartment last month and saved a family that was trapped inside.
"I did what I would do in that situation and it's hard to explain what you would do in that situation until the situation comes," Kevin Hall, with the Millville Fire Department, said.
What Millville firefighters Kevin Hall and Sumner Bryan Lippincott did was rescue a family of four from their burning apartment building.
The family was trapped on the third floor.
"We made the rescue and got off the ladder and then immediately went inside and continued to work. It didn't really sink in until the next day I would say," Lippincott said.
The pair was honored Wednesday by the group, New Jersey's Heartland.
The fire happened in early April on North High Street. It was contained to the inner hallways, but that made it impossible for the family to get out.
Lippincott has volunteered at the firehouse for three years. Hall is a full-time firefighter and has served for 11 years.
This was their first ladder rescue.
"Training in the fire service is a big thing and a lot of times when we do different drills sometimes questions will come up like, "Are we ever going to really use this?' Now everyone knows why we do that," Chief Michael Lippincott said.
For Hall and Lippincott, they say they were humbled by the recognition, but say it's just another day at the office.
"We're just two parts of a bigger machine," Lippincott said. "There's a whole crew involved."
While firefighters Hall and Lippincott were honored for their work, the fire chief says it was likely working smoke detectors that saved the families' lives.
