Major Fire Risks And How To Avoid Them

Jerry Garganeous, 31 year veteran firefighter and fire investigator, tells us about major fire risks and how to avoid them. Jerry shares stories from his time as an investigator, including what it feels like to be so close the death. Below is a story produced by KTHV, channel 11 in Little Rock back in October, 2013.

PINE BLUFF, Ark.(KTHV) – A group of Pine Bluff firefighters are credited for saving the life of another firefighter after a fire on October 19.”Me and the other lieutenant we had got somehow separated in there,” said Lt. Jerry Garganeous, a 26-year veteran with the department.”It’s dark and it’s smoky and you really can’t see anything,” said Garganeous. He said with no light in the home, he felt his way through the structure; Garganeous said he then ran out of oxygen.”I ran out of air trying to find my way out,” he said.”When it runs out of air it literally sucks to your face,” he adds. After making a “may day” call over the radio, which indicated that a firefighter was in distress, Garganeous loss consciousness. He said his fellow fighters rescued him within a minute.”I’m glad I was there. Any one of the guys here would have done the same thing,” said firefighter Brody Channell. Channell has been with the department for two years and is one of the firefighters who rescued Garganeous. “It’s an amazing thing. There’s no way I can really express…me and my family…to these guys what they did for me,” said Lt. Garganeous.