On Feb. 10 volunteer fireman Chris Carroll wound up a 24-hour shift at Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Station #7.

He drove to Newbridge Baptist Church, in Henrico County, to celebrate the baptism of his son. After that he went to his office at Commonwealth Controls Corporation, where he works as an automaton engineer.
So far, the Sunday had gone according to his plan.
Then his phone rang.
“You better get out here,” said Chris Gilnett, a fellow volunteer. “The county’s burning up.”
Carroll rushed to help, joining the 250 firefighters who worked to beat back the flames that were raging through Hanover.
From 8 a.m until 10 p.m., Hanover Fire and EMS were dispatched 222 times, to 106 different incidents.
“I have been in the fire department all my life, and never seen as many as that,” said William Jones, Battalion Chief for the Hanover Fire and EMS. “Over the last 40 years, these are the worst ones we’ve had.”
And the brush fire behind Green Top Sporting Goods on Route 1 was the biggest Carroll had seen. “Usually fires are slow-moving, but this was more like a typical California brush fire,” said Carroll, who fought the blaze alongside firefighters Tim Morden and Adam Womble. “It had tall flames, and spread rapidly.”
Then, “the fire turned on him,” said Fred Crosby, Hanover Fire-EMS Chief. “The wind was blowing in all directions, and fire can outrun a person—the flames can move 60 – 80 mph… it’s an extremely dangerous situation.”
Carroll, who joined the Mechanicsville Fire Department six years ago, said that he and his fellow firefighters did everything right.
“We were trying to beat it back, and made sure we had an emergency route out,” said Carroll. “When we noticed we weren’t making progress, we tried to make it to the emergency route, the smoke got thick. And the fire was close.
“I got overcome with smoke, and the brush was real thick,” he said. “I couldn’t work my way through it as quickly as the other guys, I couldn’t breathe right.”
When Carroll’s legs gave out on him, Morden and Womble grabbed their friend and carried him away from the smoke and flames.
Carroll was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was treated for smoke inhalation. He was intubated for two days to keep the airway from swelling. 
“They put me to sleep, so they could get my breathing under control,” he said.
When the breathing tube was taken out, Carroll’s identical twin brother, Craig, who also volunteers at the Mechanicsville Fire Department, was in his room to offer the support Carroll has come to know from his fellow firefighters. “They are fine people,” he said. “They are a good family… and I’ve met a lot of friends, people who care.”
The first words Carroll uttered were to Jones. “I’m sorry I didn’t finish the job,” he told the battalion chief.
“When I heard that,” said Chief Crosby, “I said, ‘you’ve got to love a guy like that!!’”
Carroll was released from the hospital on Tues., Feb. 12., and he went to the home of his parents, Robert and Patricia Carroll in Varina in Henrcio, to recuperate.  He planned to return home on Friday, to spend the weekend with his son and his daughter, Abbie.
“I’m doing pretty good,” said Carroll, although he said that when he tried to do anything strenuous he still had difficulty breathing. “I have to get back in shape.”
Carroll has always wanted to a firefighter. Even now, he says that he will continue to volunteer with Fire Station #7.
As Crosby points out, “Fire fighting is a dangerous job, it doesn’t matter whether you’re paid to do it or you volunteer to do it. A lot die or are injured in the line of duty.”
But to Carroll, that line of duty and a desire to “finish the job,” rank higher than the risks.

Burning Ban Info

Hanover Fire-EMS Chief Fred Crosby says that at this time of the year, conditions such as lower humidity and high winds create perfect conditions for fires to whip out of control.
To help prevent forest fires, Virginia has instituted the 4:00 p.m. Burning Law.
Between Feb. 15 and Apr. 30, no burning before 4 p.m. is allowed if the fire will be within 300 feet of woodland, brushland or fields. This ban is in effect across the state, due to the increased likelihood for forest fires during the winter months.
For more information about this regulation, visit Hanover Fire/EMS at www.co.hanover.va.us/fire-ems or call 365-6195.