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Whitestown Fire Department honors couple for heroic rescue

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Whitestown FD honors couple for heroic rescue

The Whitestown Fire Department honored civilian heroes Brittney and Cody Hartman for rescuing a man from his burning home.

Submitted photos

Brittney and Cody Hartman received “Community Heroism Award” plaques for their heroic rescue of a man from inside his burning house.

After pulling an injured man out of a burning house a few weeks ago, Boone County residents Cody and Brittney Hartman were honored by the Whitestown Fire Department in a ceremony Saturday night.

The couple received “Community Heroism Award” plaques from the department and spoke about the night of the rescue in front of several members of the WFD as well as close friends and family. Deputy Chief Greg Lanham said it was interesting to hear the Hartmans tell their side of the story after he’d only heard about the fire from fellow WFD staff.

“They were very humble when accepting the award and very humble of their actions [that night],” Lanham said. “They said for them it was a very big deal to receive an award from people they consider heroes. So it was neat to hear them say that.”

But based on the events of that night and the risks the couple took, Lanham acknowledges that the Hartmans’ actions were also truly heroic.

A little before 11 p.m. Dec. 5, Brittney and Cody were driving home to Advance from a friend’s house in Whitestown. Brittney noticed a strange “haze” in the air and around the streetlights lining the Walker Farms subdivision they drove through. When she and Cody leaned closer to the windshield, they could tell that the haze was in fact smoke coming from a house down the street to their right.

Brittney drove them close enough to see more smoke billowing out from the house and flames shining through the windows.

“Cody jumped out of the car, and then somehow I was able to keep myself calm and call 911,” Brittney said. “And he’s already up on the front door, banging on it, yelling, and I was on the phone. I don’t even remember half the things [the dispatcher] or I said.”

Brittney just remembers running down to the end of the street to tell the 911 operator the street name before running back up to list off the address on the burning house. By this point, Cody had glimpsed a man through the tiny windows on the front door, clearly struggling to find his way out of the house. Brittney said the man was “very disoriented” and “kind of walking in circles.”

Without a second thought, Cody kicked the door down and ran in to grab the victim.

“He didn’t even think about [his safety],” Brittney said. “He just saw the person, and he’s like, ‘I’ve got to get him out.’ That’s all he cared about.”

Cody asked the man if anyone else was inside, and the man said he was alone in the house. Emergency responders from Whitestown Fire Department, Lebanon Fire Department, Zionsville Fire Department and Witham EMS arrived on the scene minutes after the man was dragged out.

Lanham applauded the Hartmans for calling 911 first and then checking for victims, calling the couple’s actions “a very rare thing.”

“We wouldn’t necessarily want people to put themselves in danger like that — that’s what we do — but the outcome would’ve been much different had they not dragged him out,” Lanham said. “Time is of the essence, and when the house is full of smoke … that gentleman may not have survived by the time we got there, even though we’re just a few minutes away.”

Brittney remembers standing with the neighbors and watching as the house burned, saying it felt both fast and slow all at once.

“I was just in tears, and I still feel sorry. The whole time, my whole feeling was that I was feeling sorry, sorry, sorry,” Hartman said. “Even though none of it’s my fault, I just felt really sorry and very sad.”

The Hartmans are still in contact with the victim’s family while he’s recovering from second and third degree burns that cover more than 40 percent of his body. Since he lives alone, Brittney said they want to send him Christmas cards so that he’ll feel less lonely during the holidays.

Brittney and Cody suffered no injuries that night, though they were checked out by paramedics. Lanham said there was a huge chance for injuries or worse for the Hartmans when they made the split-second decision to rescue the victim.

“The majority of [household items] are petroleum-based, so nowadays, the smoke is incredibly dangerous,” Lanham said. “So for them to go in, even though the fire was on the second floor and they spent most of their time on the first floor where the victim was, it still was heavy smoke, and inhaling that smoke is very dangerous. So they definitely put their lives at risk to go in to help him, to save him.”

Brittney attributes her and Cody’s quick responses to the fire to the Civilian Crisis Response Team (CCRT) classes they took a few years ago. The training taught them how to respond in different emergency situations when their lives and others’ lives are in danger.

“You go into this building, and you’ve got people acting out, people running up to you and screaming and freaking out, and so you have to react to that,” Brittney said. “It was very eye-opening, and it put you in a whole different perspective. I’m just glad we took those classes, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been able to function [that night].”

Even though their actions saved a man’s life, Brittney said that at the ceremony, she and Cody still wanted to emphasize the important role police officers and firefighters play in saving people every day.

“We really do feel honored, but we just feel bad that they did that,” Hartman said. “They were so nice to do that, and it’s like you guys are the real, everyday heroes. We tell them that, that really this is more of an honor for us that you’re doing this.”

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