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JB MDL Airman rescues baby from blazing fire

  • Published
  • By Pascual Flores
  • JB MDL Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  For Senior Airman John Muirhead, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, Fire Department, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, rescuing others comes as second nature.

While off-duty and visiting a friend from the Jamesburg fire department July 2, Muirhead, an Air Force fire fighter; whose hometown is Bloomfield, N.J., responded to a call of a dwelling fire with people trapped inside.

With the dwelling fire located around the corner of the fire station, Muirhead stopped their vehicle when he noticed a woman hanging out of a third floor window holding onto an infant.

"I saw them hanging out the window and knew I had to do something," said Muirhead.

With heavy fire located in the front of the house, Muirhead ran to the house and climbed to the second story roof and directed the woman to drop the infant to him - a fall of approximately 20 feet.

The Senior Airman caught the baby and, after checking the infant for signs of life and tapping the infant on the back to ensure the baby was breathing, Muirhead passed the infant to a Jamesburg police officer.

The trapped woman then attempted to jump out of the third floor window; Muirhead tried to catch her but lost his grip due to the force impact and almost fell from the roof himself.

The woman landed on the ground below and sustained a serious head wound.

After climbing down from the roof, Muirhead rendered emergency first aid to the woman by removing his shirt to use as a pressure bandage until emergency medical personnel arrived. The woman later died from the injury.

Firefighters from Jamesburg rescued an additional two children and one adult during this fire.

"I am very proud of John's quick actions, he has developed into a true leader in the department," said Tom Nicometi, Deputy Fire Chief, 87th CES/CEF.