AUSTIN, Texas — His apartment was engulfed in flames. Fire was blocking his only means of escape. He almost didn't make it out alive.
For 50-year-old Johnny Atchinson, the Austin Fire Department said "things looked dire" when they came to the rescue in the early hours of March 21.
"Austin Police Department officers who were first on the scene could hear him yelling for help, but there was little they could do; the heat and smoke had already blocked access to the stairs leading to Atchinson’s unit," wrote the Austin Fire Department on Facebook Thursday morning.
After getting the call, the A-shift crew from Quint 3 headed to the Park Avenue Place apartments near the University of Texas campus. However, the 911 call had come from the intersection of Tom Green and East 31st streets. It turns out they were dispatched more than a block away from the actual fire at 306 E. 30th Street.
"And seconds matter," wrote the AFD.
But as they were leaving the station, Fire Specialist James Parked noticed a column of smoke coming the 30th Street. Instead of heading to the dispatched address, he followed the smoke and found the fire. The fire seemed to have started in a nearby dumpster, which then made its way to the exterior of the two-story Park Avenue Place apartments.
"As Captain Jim Ryan was giving his size-up, one of the officers told him there was a person trapped inside one of the apartments on the second floor," the AFD wrote. "The fire had completely blocked the stairs leading to the unit, as well as the window and the door to Atchinson’s apartment."
Firefighters then began putting water on the fire and finally managed to make it to the second floor. They made their way into Atchinson's unit, finding him with life-threatening injuries.
"But there is a silver lining," the AFD said. "Last week, our crew visited Atchinson to see how he was doing. And, as you can see, they were all much happier to be meeting again under better circumstances."
When they stopped by, Atchinson wrote to the crew on his dry erase board, “God bless you. Brothers, I love you, man.”
The fire department also sent their thanks to the APD.
"Without their knowledge of exactly where Atchinson was located, our crew’s rescue mission could have easily become one of recovery," said the AFD.
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