EATON — Representatives from Eaton Fire/EMS and the Preble County Sheriff’s Department attended the Eaton City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 19, to commend three individuals – Tim Crase, Alan Miller and Preble County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Drew Forrer – who assisted in helping Frank Tinnel and his dog out of a fire on Debbie Drive in Eaton back in September.
Eaton Fire/EMS Chief Brian Smith began the presentation by explaining their actions.
“As you guys are all aware from the email I sent out, we had a significant fire on Sept. 22,” he said. “I was acknowledging everyone for the work that not only our city crews did, but also the sheriff’s office, and we have two gentlemen here, as well as a sheriff’s deputy, that went above and beyond. They actually went into the house that was on fire, full of smoke, to pull Mr. Tinnel out.
The council was then shown dramatic dash cam footage of Deputy Forrer arriving at the scene as Crase and Miller were already inside the home attempting to remove Tinnel, who is wheelchair bound, and his dog.
“So nobody was hurt during this fire?” Mayor Gary Wagner asked.
Smith said there were no injuries, mainly because of the three men that helped out.
“They went in – and I don’t know if you guys are aware of the amount of plastics and synthetics that are in homes today. The smoke is not very breathable. It’s not like getting knocked in the face by wind shift at a campfire,” he said. “It’s very toxic and very hazardous, and the fact that these gentlemen were able to do what they did speaks volume to their character and into the character of people in our community.”
He went on to say that he wouldn’t advise anybody to do it, but the fact that they did and brought out is why they were being commended.
Smith then presented each of them with the Fire Safety Commendation Award.
“The City of Eaton Fire and EMS Division presents the Fire Safety Commendation Award in recognition of your outstanding contributions to protect human life due to fire,” he read from the award.
When presenting the award to Miller, Smith added that he was in the house probably longer than anybody trying to corral the dog.
“He definitely went above and beyond,” Smith said. “We all value our pets. Especially, if you saw Mr. Tinnel out and about, that dog was always with him when he was out on his scooter, so the fact that they both okay is a tribute to you.”
Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson was also in attendance and presented the three with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association.
In other business
The Fire and EMS report for Sept. 2020 showed a combined responses of 214 calls; 127 EMS responses, including eight second Medic responses; and 87 fire/rescue responses, including 16 general alarms. They received mutual aid three times and provided mutual aid four times. There was an average of 7.1 calls per day for the month.
Additionally, there were two heroin overdose responses in September. There have been 33 heroin overdose responses this year compared to 30 in all of 2019.
