Aspiring Firefighter Braves Flames to Search for Victims

An aspiring firefighter got a taste of the job Tuesday when he searched for a friend in a burning condominium, fire officials said.

No one was home when faulty wiring in a living room lamp sparked a fast-moving fire at a condo at 23471 Via San Gabriel. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

Richard Wright, 18, who had just spoken on the phone with Jeremiah Franklin, 12, at the condo, thought the boy was still inside.

Wright, who has had a year of training with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, heard his 5-year-old sister shouting about a fire about a block away. Wright followed the rising smoke to Jeremiah’s condo and saw flames licking up from the front door.

Wright kicked open the door and crawled through the condo looking for people. He then ran back to his home and threw on flameproof coveralls and boots that he used as an explorer, trained to help firefighters search after a blaze is controlled.

Putting a damp bandanna over his mouth, Wright entered the burning condo a second time, moving on hands and knees amid smoke and flaming walls, he said.

When he found no one, he ran to the back door, where he and two other people opened the door and broke open bedroom windows to let out a family dog and hamsters, he said.

When County Fire Department crews arrived, Wright helped uncoil some hoses before plopping down on a curb to watch the rest of the action.

“I must have had some guts to go in there,” Wright said, adding that the experience was “wild. There’s no doubt about it.”

While fire officials said they do not recommend that untrained people rush into burning buildings, they recommended a certificate of valor for Wright, Capt. Dan Young said.