News 8 Austin | This is a story about being at the right place at the right time, with a little bit of bravery mixed in."I feel very proud to be associated with those guys," West Lake and Oak Hill Fire Chief Gary Warren said.
Those guys are about 15 firefighters from the West Lake, Oak Hill, Pflugerville, and Lake Travis fire departments. Thursday morning they were running hazmat drills in a parking lot across Highway 183, when they saw the plane.
"The chances could be one in a million," Lake Travis Fire Chief Robert Abbott said of the timing.
"They did hear the impact and looked, and saw the fire, and immediately started scrambling to get gear together so we could go over there and help," Warren said.
Because it was hazmat training, Lake Travis Engine 604 was the only fire truck on scene. But that didn't stop it from being the little engine that could, firefighters said.
"We only had one engine for four crews," Warren said. "The other three crews went to the front of the building so that they could do the search and rescue operations on the first and second floor."
That means those crews didn't have the protection of a fire hose.
"They were willing to do that without their fire trucks, without their extra tools, with only their personal protective equipment," Warren said. "And they were willing to go in and help in any way they could."
Also trying to help any way he could was window installer Robin DeHaven. He had been driving on Highway 360.
"I was being curious a little bit, but also hurrying over there," he said. "I quickly exited the highway, and trying to rush to aid."
DeHaven used his extension ladder to rescue five people trapped on the second floor. The quick thinking of bystanders and first responders may have saved untold lives.
"It probably made this miracle possible, the miracle that so few people were killed by this," Warren said.
The Austin Fire Department took over command about ten minutes after the other departments responded. Austin Fire would have responded even sooner if crews weren't already tied up at the house fire in North Austin.
