‘It Was Kind Of Breathtaking’: Plano Firefighter Shares Personal Account Of House Explosion Aftermath
By J.D. Miles
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PLANO, Texas (KTVT) — Plano firefighters are being called heroes by the victims of Monday’s house explosion.
One of them shared his account with CBS 11 News.
John Mueller said his fellow firefighters from Station 12 first thought the initial call might be a fire caused by a lightning strike.
“There was a big storm coming through the city of Plano,” Mueller said. “I guess what made this one different were reports that there was no house on the location, that there was debris everywhere.”
Mueller was among the first on the scene to confirm those reports of an explosion.
“It was kind of breathtaking in a way, not a great way, lots of debris,” he said. “We maintain awareness, knowing that where there’s one explosion there could possibly be a second one.”
The 36-year-old veteran firefighter was surprised to find people who were nearby, still alive.
“We were walking over debris to get to them,” said Mueller. “You would think it’s hard for someone to make it through that.”
Mueller rushed to the aid of an injured 6-year-old boy who he carried to a paramedic while trying to reassure him he would be okay.
“I have a 5-year-old myself, so at that point you kind of have to make the child feel comfortable, start talking about his favorite sports and his favorite activities and kind of get his mind away from what’s going on,” he said. “Just kind of put them on your shoulder walk over to the ambulance.”
It’s that compassion that the Jageilski family appreciated as the couple and their three kids recover from serious injuries according to a friend.
“We are grateful to the firemen,” said Mae Reedy. “I’m not sure of his name yet but there was one fireman who initially responded on the scene here, and knew this was a family trauma and he stayed by reece’s side the entire time.”
Mueller said, “Anything I’ve done would be something anyone could’ve done on our crew, Plano has great department, that’s a great crew, I’m very blessed to be at Station 12.”
The family wants to meet and publicly thank the firefighters from Station 12 as soon as they are able to.
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