How did I survive asks firefighter
Apr 13th, 2008 | By admin | Category: FoodsBandaged around his head and left hand, senior firefighter Grylls, 29, today credited fate with leaving him with minor injuries.
He was standing next to his Red Watch boss, Senior Station Officer Derek Lovell, when a huge explosion ripped through the Icepak Groups Waikato coolstore, where they were checking an alarm.
Mr Lovell, 48, was knocked backward by the huge blast, lost consciousness and later died of his injuries in Waikato Hospital.
It has to be fate, said a shaken Mr Grylls, who was near tears as he talked about Mr Lovell at a media conference at the Hamilton central fire station today.
Has to be. Youre standing relatively close to Derek and … , he said, his voice trailing off at the painful memory of Mr Lovell and his fate.
Mr Grylls, a fireman for eight years and the youngest of the crew, described his own wounds as superficial.
Responding to the alarm at Icepak, at rural Tamahere on the outskirts of Hamilton, was just a routine job.
There was nothing to suggest it was anything other. Just one of those calls we go to day in, day out.
The sequence of events that led to a call-out that was far from ordinary was a bit hazy, he said.
There was no fire in the coolstore when the two Hamilton fire appliances arrived about 4pm yesterday.
Mr Grylls said there was just a gas vapour - something that was coming out from around the doors.
It had no smell, he said.
A couple of guys were inside the building investigating what was going on and the next thing I knew the place had just blown apart with no warning.
I stayed on my feet but there was debris flying everywhere. I think there was a big fireball. I cant really remember a lot of what happened. The other guys were inside at the time.
Reeling from the blast he began to wonder where his fellow crew members were.
Part of the building was on fire, which is where most of the guys were. I started trying to do a head count.
Standing close to Mr Grylls, Mr Lovell was blown some distance backwards. Mr Grylls checked him, found him unresponsive and started CPR.
Bystanders - neighbours, some from the nearby Tamahere School Pumpkin Festival fundraiser, others from a wedding reception - began to give aid. Some took over the CPR allowing Mr Grylls to get on the radio and relay the grim news to his headquarters.
Report done, he looked for more men but faced a dilemma. He wasnt in the right gear to go into the burning coolstore. He knew he couldnt pull anyone out.
Luckily they came out in dribs and drabs, one by one by themselves.
They were barely walking and saying little. Bystanders, including doctors and nurses from the school event, went quickly to their aid, he said.
They were just trying to get themselves as far away as possible, really.
