Quick actions by Incirlik Airmen put out fire

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Burton
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Imagine it, the time is about 7:30 p.m. and you go and take a shower before bed. After washing your hair you open your eyes only to realize the lights are out and it is pitch black. You turn around and see a strange glow through the shower curtain. After looking past the curtain you realize that an entire wall in the bathroom is on fire. What would you do? 

For Tech. Sgt. Brian Thornton, 90th Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron, there was precious little time to think.

"I jumped out of the shower, reached through the fire and grabbed the fire extinguisher behind the flames because it was the only extinguisher I could see," Sergeant Thornton said. "I extinguished the fire, cleared the bathroom then I proceeded to my room and let my roommate know to call the fire department. Then I put some clothes on and exited the building."

Even after risking his personnel safety and risking a little bit of embarrassment since he put out the fire naked, Sergeant Thornton said, he doesn't feel like he did anything special.

"I was just doing what anyone else would have done," Sergeant Thornton said. "The only thing I was thinking was 'put it out and get out.'"

Despite his modesty, the fire department felt Sergeant Thornton went above and beyond. He showed courage by single handedly putting out the fire that occurred Sept. 6 in tent city. Because of his quick actions they recognized him Sept. 12 in a ceremony at the fire department.

"When you here about a fire in tent city, you always think the worst," said Medgar Rose, 39th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department assistant chief of operations. "But in this particular situation the actions taken by Sergeant Thornton prior to our arrival made our job much easier once we arrived on scene."

Mr. Rose said when he arrived on scene he saw what he thought was smoke and was thinking this fire was going to be big, but it was actually remnants of the extinguisher that he was seeing.

"A lot of our job depends on what individuals do prior to our arrival," Mr. Rose said.
By putting out the small fire before it became a large one, ensuring the bathroom was empty, pulling the fire alarms and having his roommate call the fire department Sergeant Thornton did everything correctly, Mr. Rose said.

"I'm not at all surprised with Sgt. Thornton's performance," said Col. Paul Brown, 90th EARS commander. "He is a minimalist kind of guy and doesn't need a whole lot to get the job done."

Colonel Brown added that there where other people involved that helped perform accountably for everyone in the building.

"By the time the fire department had arrived they had accounted for everyone in the building and that can take a lot of pressure off of the fireman who have to go in and find out what is going on inside," Colonel Brown said. I'm just extremely proud of Sergeant. Brown and the work everyone else did for accountability and I just want to say thanks."

Mr. Rose said that thanks to Sergeant Thornton's quick actions, he contained a situation that could have been much worse. This is a good prelude to fire prevention week, which is Oct. 8-12, Mr. Rose said.

Sergeant Thornton said he hopes he doesn't ever have to put out a fire again, but if he does, hopefully he will be fully clothed.