Over the past few weeks I have been mourning a great personal loss. On Friday, June 10th 2011, I lost a dear close personal friend, Ryan Patrick Douthit. (he happens to be the person next to me in the background picture) As the hours without him turned to days, and days into weeks, I have reflected greatly on the impression he has made, and the void that is left on me, my family and the fire service. I wont get into the personal side of things, after all this is a blog about one mans accounts of the fire service. And in the fire service Ryan exemplified a rare breed of firefighters.
I met Ryan at the Fire company picnic in July 2005. It happened to be the day he was moving into the fire house as a live in. As with most live ins, He had been down to visit with his mom & dad a few months before. Took a tour of the station, and filled out his application. The next meeting he was voted in as a member on a kind of "delayed entry" meaning his membership & probation period would not begin until he moved in. At first impression, he seemed like a good kid, athletic, good personality and an good looking kid. As one of the senior firefighters I made way over to him and introduced myself to him and his parents and started talking. Not long after he ran off to grab a bite to eat or something & i stayed to talk with his parents. It was obvious to me that they had some concerns so i spoke with them and answered any questions they had about the department and what their "little boy" was getting into. Their concerns were that of any parent, How would he adjust and how would he do in school (ryan moved here to take fire science classes as ccac) but as discussion went on I was able to pick up that they were not new to the fire service, just from some terminology they had used. As I come to find out his Dad was a past fire chief of the City of DuBois Fire department. This means one of two things, as history has shown, a new member who's father is a fire chief some where, the kid will either be a stick in the ass "fire snob" who thinks they know everything because daddy was a fire chief, or he's going to have his head screwed on straight and really understand the job for what it is and what it truly means to be a firefighter. As I continued to talk to his dad, i was beginning to believe that this was the latter of the two and that he would be just fine.
As his career at #5 began, he was doing everything he could to learn as much as he could. Not to mention jumping in to help out with whatever around the station or simply finding stuff to do. It wasn't more than a few days, maybe a week at most until Ryan passed his first "probie test" and was able to start responding to calls on the rigs. You see, at #5 every probie has two tests they have to take in the first 6 months. The first test, commonly called "the riding test" tests basic knowledge needed to be of any use on the fire ground. Using the map books, talking on the radio, using our SCBA's (self contained breathing apparatus...our air packs and masks) and understanding what rigs roll on what type of call and in what order. Ryan was now riding, he was on top of the world, a fireman in what he called, "The Big City"
As his probation carried on, he found his nich and fit right into the department. Coming from a small single engine company in DuBois to a busy "big city" firehouse with 2 engines a ladder truck and a tanker is a big step and a world of difference. But he made the transition flawlessly, and he began taking a liking to the ladder truck. He would ask me all the time about truck company operations....how to do this and how to do that, and as fast as I could tell him, he'd soak it in and have another question. Every time I was at the station, he was a shadow, but I didn't mind, I was taking a liking to the kid. He reminded me of myself a bit, and i could tell he was here to not only do the job, but to do the job as best as he could.
Ryan would grow to be one of the best damn firefighters I have had the privilege to work with, and thats no bull shit. He was one of the smartest and aggressive firefighters I had seen in some time. From time to time, you could see his adolescence kick in and he might pull a bone head move. But as soon as he did, he knew it, and you could bet your ass he wouldn't make that mistake again. He grew as a firefighter with every fire alarm, car accident, structure fire and ambulance call he took.
One night we got a call to the local low income apartment complex for a reported working structure fire that immediately went to a second alarm after the initial dispatch. We pulled up and this place was OFF!!! Huge amounts of fire and a broken hydrant.... not a good combination. Ryan was with the first bunch of guys through the door. He quickly and methodically began performing searches. More hand lines were stretched into the building with hopes of keeping the fire in check, and about the time they got a water supply outside, 2 of the hand lines inside, burnt through. It was at this time they decided to pull the plug on an interior operation and get the guys the hell out. As Ryan moved from a back bedroom to exit the structure, the roof collapsed. Knocking him down and pinning him to the floor, only 10 ft from the door. As he wiggled to free himself a firefighter from #4 saw him and helped pull him to safety. We did a quick accountability check of all our guys to be sure everyone was accounted for. Then gathered in front of the ladder truck to discuss our plan of attack. During discussion, Ryan is seen standing kind of behind the huddle, waving his hand like a first grader that has to go to the bathroom. Our Assistant Chief Mike, (aka Lurch) asks "what do you need" And ryan calmly asks, "Is it OK if I go throw up?" Lurch kindly replied "Sure dude, go ahead, you don't need to ask, just go do it by their (another companies) engine." And off he went. Now as funny as it sounds, there is profound meaning to that story.... Ryan was lucky, 20+ guys were injured in that collapse, 16 of which were transported to the hospital, (luckily none life threatening) yet he stayed to keep fighting and actually asked permission to puke, not because he wasn't allowed, but because he was afraid it might make himself and his company, look weak. I later explained to him that I as well as some of the other guys had been there....in that we had also had our close calls... and the sick feeling you get in your stomach you get after your outside and begin to wrap your mind around what just happened and how close it really was. There's really nothing more you can do but thank the man upstairs, take a big breath in a sigh of relief and sometimes, you puke.
That fire would be the one I think that calmed the adolescence in him down. He constantly played that over in his head trying to figure out what he could have done differently, as did many of us. But he realized that in this jobs there are some things you just cant control, so he didn't beat himself up about it...he learned from it.
Another fire I remember was in #4's area. While working on an old car in the garage, the home owner dropped and ruptured a full gas tank on the car & in the frantic moments that followed, knocked over a work light. The light hit the ground, the bulb popped and the gas lit off and it lit off big. As we approached we could see the column of thick black smoke. We pulled in as the second engine we could see smoke from every window and flames beginning to peak over the roof of the house. Ryan jumped off the engine and gave his ever famous "Oh yea....We got this" and away he went, with his air bottle on his back, and no air mask. He ran down the driveway following a 2 1/2" hand line on side 2 (the left side looking at the house) as he came to the back he noticed a kid from the first in engine kneeling on the ground 30 ft from the house with the nozzle only opened half way in a sort of "spray and pray" mode. (spray water at the fire an pray it go's out) Ryan, still running full steam, began yelling at him "Get the fuck in there!" but the kid didn't budge. With our missing a beat Ryan (still running) lowered his shoulder and 3-pointed this kid clean off his feet from a kneeling position.
Ryan rolls once then hops up and begins screaming again "Get the fuck in there you pussy....or give me the line and get the fuck outta my way!" Still dazed from the truck that just ran him over, the kid hands over the knob (nozzle). Ryan grabs it moves into position, and with flames literally shooting 12 to 15 ft out of a 2 car garage door and rolling up the back of the house higher than the roof, he begins his attack. Using a hand line that normally takes 2 to 4 guys, He wrestled that 2 1/2 inch line like it was nothing, and put a big knock on the fire, and with out an air mask, made entry into the garage putting out more and more fire with every step until one of our other guys, realizing not having a mask in such and environment isn't exactly a good Idea, went in after him and yanked him out to put a mask on and let someone else mop up the rest of the fire.
We fought that fire for about another 15 to 20 minuets, chasing hotspots throughout the upstairs. Ryan would eventually join me inside on the first floor and again become a victim of a collapse, only this time it would be nothing more than the wall board & plaster off the ceiling. Just enough to give you a head ache and piss you off. Once the fire was over we cleaned up and went back to the fire house to "hotwash" or critique the fire. This is where we discuss everything that happened. We point out flaws to learn from and thins we could have done differently. Throughout the entire hot wash it all kept going back to Ryan, or "Rip" as he was called, and the great knock he put on the fire....and of course his James Harrison approach to getting the nozzle. But I can say that with as much fire as there was, The knockdown he put on the fire was one for the books. He alone put that fire out....the rest of us just mopped up the little stuff after the fact.
Throughout his time here at #5, he was always apologizing to me for making mistakes....or as he would say... "I fucked up" He would eventually learn that it's OK to make mistakes and that he wasn't expected to be perfect on the job, but to simply learn from the mistakes you made. This would help advance him with in the department and Ryan would move on to become a Lieutenant in the department. And altho he was a stickler for making sure all the small equipment was operational at all times, the guys looked up to him. He was a natural leader and firefighter and through all this, he never forgot his roots from a small single engine firehouse in DuBois. As it would turn out, he wasn't the snot nosed punk who's daddy was chief, He was your traditional, no bullshit, go get em kinda firefighter and a damn good one at that. Aggressive but humble, proud but quiet. He wasn't there to impress anyone or to be "that guy" who makes some miraculous save. He was there to do the job and he did it well. He was a Firefighter.
The fire service has lost one of a rare breed. But as I remember my friend Ryan and his place in the fire service, I have no doubt that he has gone on to become a member of that big truck company company in the sky. And If I know him, he's standing on the roof over hell (without a mask of course) cutting a huge vent hole and screaming down at the devil "What now Mother Fucker"
That was just how he did it....all out, 100%, every time, and I am honored to be able to tell you that I was able to breath some of the same smoke as him and call him my friend.
"We Got This"
Lt. Ryan "Rip" Douthit
1985 - 2011
