Repeated Theme of Rescuers Who Braved Fire: ‘We’d Do It Again’

Todd Barbey was on his way to play tennis last November when he rounded a bend in Pacific Beach and came upon flames leaping skyward. In a burning car he saw the silhouette of the driver trying to escape.

The driver had been going about 70 m.p.h. when she missed a curve on Soledad Mountain Road and crashed into a motor home, setting off a chain-reaction crash and fire.

Barbey, a 41-year-old Pacific Beach resident, didn’t hesitate. He stopped his van and ran across the street. He said his only thought as he went to the woman’s aid was, “God help me.”

The driver got out of the car, but left behind was an unconscious and bleeding passenger. Barbey broke a window and pulled the 17-year-old girl to safety.

On Tuesday night, Barbey and 21 other heroes were honored at the San Diego Burn Institute’s 16th annual Spirit of Courage award banquet. The awards are given to people who risk their lives attempting to save others from fiery deaths, said Judith Copeland, executive director of the Burn Institute.

Barbey, who is studying to become a minister, said his attempt to save the girl was instinctual.

“I was thinking about once every three seconds that something was going to explode or burn us up, and I knew I had to go as fast as possible. . . . I was totally geared on getting her out, and I’m glad God put me together to do it,” Barbey said.

Copeland said that Barbey’s response to danger is typical of the more than 180 heroes the institute has honored in the past. Barbey “was surrounded by fire on three sides. It was truly heroic. But they always say to us, ‘We’d do it again in a moment, I’m not a hero. I did a job that had to be done.’ That’s been a common thread. They’re always so humble . . . . I think Todd Barbey’s (story) is pretty incredible.”

Copeland added that a special honor, the Exceptional Service Award, will be given to Victor Gonzalez, Mark Grow, David Lones, Forrest Kuhn and Andrew Parr of the Lakeside Fire Department. The five were almost killed June 10, 1988, when a burning house began to collapse as they were trying to rescue a man and woman trapped inside, Copeland said.

They got the woman out and “stayed inside an absolute inferno to get a man out,” Copeland said.