Firefighter honored with Life Saving Award

MUSCATINE — When Muscatine firefighter Mike Collins was invited to an afternoon ceremony, he had no idea he would walk out with an honor. 

Fire Chief Jerry Ewers gave Collins the Life Saving Award on Wednesday. He was nominated for the award by Battalion Chief Gary Ronzheimer, with Capt. Joe Timmsen and firefighter Chance Sutherland adding their comments.

He acted without thinking about any kind of reward, but getting recognized was a happy surprise.

“I’m extremely shocked,” Collins said. “It’s definitely an honor to have something like this, though I would never expect to have anything like it.”

The award comes almost four months after Collins’ actions on April 8. The Muscatine Fire Department was called to the scene of an early-morning apartment fire at 620 Sycamore St. When crews arrived, smoke was coming out of two sides of the building with a fan burning in a second-story window.

As the entry team began searching the upper floors of the building, Collins heard a woman calling for help. Collins then found the stairs that led to the third floor and continued to call to her as he used his thermal-imaging camera to help locate the trapped resident.

In the moment, Collins said his main thoughts were the same priorities that everyone in his department has.

“Our priority is life safety here. I could hear her, and I knew I had to help,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Through heavy smoke and heat, which allowed a mere 6-8 inches of visibility, Collins continued through the apartment without a charged line. He quickly found the resident and, with assistance from Timmsen, brought her safely downstairs and out of the building. The woman was then taken to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine, where she was treated for carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning.

“I just heard the voice and was able to locate her, and that’s how it all ended up,” Collins said.

He has not spoken to the woman since that day, though he was still happy to hear that she survived.

“That’s kind of the unfortunate thing about our job,” he said. “A lot of times, we don’t hear from the outcomes of everything, and that’s just part of it.”

Ewers said: “(Collins’) actions directly contributed to the survival of the patient. I truly believe that he acted within his scope, and his actions and attentiveness saved the life of the victim.”

Collins, felt a bit differently.

“I was given the award for locating the resident, but the truth be known, it took the whole team to do this,” he said. “We’re all a team together, and all of us on shift that day were on-scene together, and it’s truly a team effort. I’m thankful that everyone who was there that day was there and that we were able to get her out quickly, get her the medical care she needed and put out the fire.”