offduty-firefighter

3 Off-Duty Firefighters That Went Into Hero Mode

For the majority of us average human beings here on earth, work is something we have to do. It pays the bills, and it puts food on the table. Not many people have a job that they love, so once our shift is over, we rush home to take care of important things. Like eating Doritos and watching Duck Dynasty for 4 hours. We barely get through the 9-5, so when it comes to working overtime, our boss better not even think about asking. It’s just not gonna happen.
“Sure boss, I can come in at Never o’clock. Does Never o’clock sound good to you?”
But when it comes to being a firefighter, there is no 9-5. It is a 24/7 death-dodging profession. And while most of us would try to pepper spray Overtime in the face if we could, firefighters jump into beast mode even when they’re off the clock. There are countless acts of heroism performed by firefighters every day around the world, so naturally, we can’t showcase them all. 
But below are just a few…

3. Robert Puttick Gets Electrocuted, Simply Doesn’t Care

Imagine you have just smashed your vehicle into a pole on the side of a county road. You try to get out, but every time you touch the car’s frame, you are shocked. That’s because the hydro lines from the pole you decided to chop down with your crossover are now laying underneath your car, sending electricity coursing through the vehicle. This was the scene in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada in August 2010.

But then help arrived in the form of off-duty firefighter Robert Puttick.

Otherwise known as Captain Awesome.
Robert sprang into action right away. Wearing just his casual clothes, he ran to the car, grabbed the driver’s door… and was instantly shocked by about 115,000 volts. He hadn’t noticed the wires underneath, and the lady inside was apparently to busy to inform him. But Robert didn’t volunteer for 10 years just to let a little electric tickle stop him. He ran to the passenger side, where the door had swung open after the crash, had the driver kneel on the seat, and scooped her up and ran from the car… seconds before it burst into flames.
The woman sustained no injuries, and Robert Puttick went home a hero, with the satisfaction of knowing he no longer needs to fear lightning storms.

2. Firefighters Save Guy From Fire… 3 Times

Daniel DiRobbio of Warwick, Rhode Island, USA decided to go for a nice off-duty drive one night in January 2010.
“Yeppers, just going for a nice off-duty drive. No duties to worry about tonight. I would, if I was on-duty.
But I’m not. I’m off-duty. Zero duties to worry about.”

But life for a firefighter just isn’t that relaxing. As he was driving he saw heavy smoke pouring out of a two-floor house. He phoned in the fire (after jumping out of his moving vehicle, probably), and began banging on the door, waking up the two residents and their children, and getting them out safe and sound. The end! Not. As the other firefighters arrived, Daniel turned around and realized the father had run back inside to try to put out the fire himself. Because what do firefighters know about fighting fires.

So they marched up there and dragged him back outside to safety. The end! Oh if only. As they tried to do their job of putting out the dang fire, the man ran inside the house again! They then muttered something like “Strike three”, left the property, and went back to the station to watch Backdraft on loop. No, because they’re good people, the firefighters grabbed him yet again, and brought him out of the burning building. Hopefully, they followed this up by giving him a thorough rinse with their fire hoses.

Like this, but with more lesson-teaching velocity.
So please, if you are ever in a burning building and firefighters decide to save you and your family in their spare time, just do them a favor and stay saved.

1. Michael Marino Dives Into Flooded Tunnel 

In July 2010, the greater Boston area was hit by flash floods, including nearby Somerville. Christine Broderick was in the Fellsway Tunnel at the time, and had nowhere to go as the waters picked up her car and spun it in circles. The tunnel filled up with 18 feet of water and went pitch black as she managed to climb onto the roof of her car. Being unable to swim, she began screaming for help. And that’s when off-duty firefighter Michael Marino “dove” into action.

“Ohh, I see what you did there, James!”
See, while most of us in this scenario might just point at the tunnel and cry, hoping the situation would just resolve itself, Michael is better than us. Michael Marino, a former US Navy rescue diver, jumped in without hesitation. He swam into the dark tunnel with a life-ring, located Christine, and pulled her to safety, strictly because he is the coolest cat around. 
It’s possible that the tunnel wasn’t dark, but that she just had her eyes closed the entire time.
So thank you, Heroes Of Overtime! Thank you for working around the clock to save our butts whenever we get ourselves into crazy situations.

Share this post