Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Tatyana Freeman | 190325-N-XO654-0004 Hampton, Va. (March. 25, 2019) Aviation Ordnanceman Airman John...... read more read more
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HAMPTON, Va. (March 25, 2019) – When a fire broke out near the Light Industrial Facility (LIFAC) in Hampton, Virginia Feb. 15, property was at risk, and only one person was around.
Fire isn’t a common occurrence for Aviation Ordnanceman Airman John Richardson, a Sailor from Abilene, Texas, and assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington’s (CVN 73) preventative maintenance division 14 (PM-14). Despite that, he happened to be in the right place at the right time to be a first responder.
Richardson was the first to spot the fire on his way to watch at the LIFAC building, and sprung into action.
“The flames were coming into the curb and the cars were parked right next to it,” said Richardson. “I saw smoke and fire off the side of the highway and called 911 because no one else was there.”
After calling 911, Richardson got out of his car and was soon joined by other people that worked in the buildings around LIFAC near Southbound 664 where the fire had started. Together, they did their best to control the fire by throwing dirt and dumping bottles of water on the blaze in an effort to keep the fire damage to a minimum.
“People down the road started running with fire extinguishers, and we all just tried to contain the fire,” said Richardson.
Everyone did their best to help until the fire department arrived to put out the fire.
According to the fire report, the entire incident lasted about 40 minutes.
“For a lot of people in the Navy, when they see something like that, it’s kind of instinct to just try and fix it instead of panicking and walking away,” said Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Erin Hirose from Kansas City, Missouri, the PM-14 production leading petty officer.
“I just thought about if it was my car, I would not want anyone to just watch it burn,” said Richardson.
“He’s very caring,” said Hirose, “It doesn’t surprise me that he took the time to try and fix it instead of being a bystander.”
Richardson received a bravo zulu, or congratulations, from Cmdr. Michael Windom, the maintenance officer in charge of aircraft intermediate maintenance department (AIMD) during one of AIMD’s quarters.
“It’s a lot of training that we’ve had,” said Hirose. “Even if it’s not hands-on training, it still teaches us to recognize the warning signs if something were to go wrong on the ship. It allows us to protect other people and other people’s property.”
Because of the quick actions of Richardson and the other people that arrived on the scene, no one was hurt and no damage was done to any of the property.
“I’m proud he acted and responded the way he did,” said Senior Chief Aviation Machinist’s Mate Alexander Cardenas, from Houston, LIFAC’s leading chief petty officer. “It’s very important for Sailors to be vigiliant and aware of their surroundings.”
Even though Richardson was not in a ship environment, he still used the training he learned in the Navy to help not only Sailors, but civilians and their property.
As George Washington continues to go through refueling complex overhaul, even if a Sailor is not assigned to where he or she would typically be, it is important to know that the same basic skills apply to all Sailors everywhere – even if it is just a brush fire on the side of the road.
Join the conversation with GW online at www.facebook.com/USSGW and www.twitter.com/GW_CVN73. For more news from USS George Washington, visit www. Navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
| Date Taken: | 03.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2019 11:26 |
| Story ID: | 316539 |
| Location: | HAMPTON, VA, US |
| Hometown: | ABILENE, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sailor Serves as First Responder, by PO2 Tatyana Freeman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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