| Poland
Community Volunteer Fire Department. P.O. Box 1, Poland, Indiana
47868.
GOOD NEWS! Angela Came for a Visit 04/29/2001. Angela will be home from the Hospital for good on May 9,2001. ***Have you tested your Smoke Detector Battery???? *** Angela has already gone through about eight surgeries so far and faces several more operations after being burned on her face, neck, arms, legs and back. Angela's uncle says he expects her to remain in the hospital for about another month. I am happy to report that Angela is now home!! |
Three Clay County Firefighters Receive Medal Of Valor Little Girl Is Recovering At Riley
INDIANAPOLIS, 6:58 p.m. EST March 18, 2001-- Three Poland
volunteer firefighters received the governor's highest honor, the Medal
of Valor, Sunday for saving the life of a little girl.
The firefighters used quick thinking to rescue Donna Smith's 4-year-old daughter, Angela, from their burning home last month. "It's empowering just to know that she's still here and that those three guys are the reason for it," Smith said. On Sunday, Feb. 11, Chief David Schoolcraft, Lanny Armour and Jerry Nees became heroes. "I'm not the type of person that considers myself to be a hero or anything. I just want to help people," Schoolcraft said. The firefighters were attending hazardous materials training when they received the call of a house fire with a child trapped inside. "It's a fireman's worst nightmare, knowing there's a child in there," Armour said. "We just had to get in there and get her out," Nees said. By feeling their way through the burning home, the men were able to find Angela in the living room and quickly brought her to safety. "I can't thank them enough. To thank them for having her still in my life, I mean, she's a ray of sunshine," Smith said. Angela is being treated for third degree burns on her arms, hands, chest, back and face at Riley Children's Hospital. She is expected to be released from Riley in a month. Smith said that she will still have a lot of therapy ahead of her. Firefighters from the nearby town of Cataract also presented the Smith family with a $1,600 check to offset their travel and medical costs. That money was raised at a chili supper on Saturday.
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POLAND, Ind. (AP) -- The state will honor three volunteer firemen and a bystander for their bravery in rescuing a 4-year-old Clay County girl from a house fire. Thick smoke forced the rescuers to make several unsuccessful attempts before they finally found Angela Smith unconscious under a table during the Feb. 11 fire. "It was a very dense, hot fire and they all risked their lives to save the child," said Alden Taylor, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal's office. Fire Chief David Schoolcraft, Assistant Chief Jerry Nees and fireman Lanny Armour of the Poland Volunteer Fire Department each will receive the Governor's Medal of Valor, and Robert J. Frost, a neighbor of Smith who assisted in her rescue, will receive a certificate of appreciation, Taylor said. The girl remains hospitalized at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with burns on 30 percent of her upper body. The state will present the awards Sunday March 18th in Poland. |
Angela Smith-Evans age 4 was hurt in a fire in rural Poland, (Owen County) Feb 11th. She is in critical but stable condition, with 3rd degree burns over 30% of her body. Angela is at Riley Childrens Hospital on the second floor of the burn unit in Indianapolis.
Poland volunteer fire fighter, David Schoolcraft, rescued her from her burning home. Smith has already undergone surgery to separate her fingers and to help circulation to her hands. Relatives say she has a long journey ahead but she is a strong girl. Doctors don't know the full extent of Angela’s damage at this time.
Donations for Angela Smith-Evans Fundraiser can be made at the following locations;
| First State Bank in Poland, Brazil, Terre Haute; Account Name; Angela
Smith-Evans Mix 100.7 Studios in Terre Haute on US Hwy 40 3rd St. Hillman's Market in Poland Speedway in Brazil at I-70 The Pub in Cunot Office Max in Terre Haute Clay County Rural Telephone Company in Cloverdale. Texas Roadhouse in Terre Haute Torrs Restaurant Greencastle US 40 & US 231 |
Twlight Gaming in Terre Haute 1207 S. 3rd St Babbages in Honey Creek Mall South Party Cask in Terre Haute North Clay Middle School in Brazil Sunset Manor in Greencastle |
Special thanks to all those who have donated, and not mentioned, also special thanks to the Poland Vol. Fire Dept, and Cloverdale Fire Dept.
812-986-3291 for Family Members
Feb 11 2001Four-Year Old Seriously Injured In House Fire West Of Cagles Mill LakeStaff Writer The fire had all the conditions to result in a triple fatality, but the combination of an alert neighbor (who saved the two adults), and three Poland Community Volunteer Department firefighters who went inside the burning home to locate the child, kept the fire from claiming a life. Angela Whitney Smith, 4, was listed in critical but stable condition Monday morning at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis with burns over much of her upper body, including her face and torso. Her mother, Donna Marie Smith, 25, and Smith's fiance', 29 year-old Bradley Allan Fields were rescued with far less serious injuries and were taken to Putnam County Hospital in Greencastle for treatment and later released. The mother and her finace' sustained smoke inhalation and cuts, with the cuts thought to have been sustained as they escaped through a broken window. The Poland Community Volunteer Fire Department was the first units on the scene. As soon as they arrived, Chief Dave Schoolcraft and firefighters Lannie Armour and a third firefighter put on their air equipment and entered the burning home. According to Schoolcraft, they found the child under a table near a couch in the living room. According to Indiana State Trooper Dave McKalip, Armour told him he grabbed the girl but then fell in the smoke-filled room, severely injuring his leg. He then handed the child to Schoolcraft who carried her out of the home. Witnesses at the scene said the three firemen collapsed on the lawn when they came out. At first it was thought Armour might have broken his leg in the fall, but he was taken to Putnam County Hospital where it was determined he had sustained ligament or tendon damage to his leg, but no broken bones. In the process of fighting the fire, that severely damaged the interior of the home, another fireman, Cloverdale VFD firefighter Charlie Burton sustained a cut to his hand, but he was treated at the scene for his injury. According to the Poland VFD Chief, who was still very upset by the incident, "The little girl's eyes were open, but she wasn't responding. A little bit later I heard her cry, and that was really a good sign... but she was burned pretty bad." Schoolcraft said he thought she probably had second degree burns on her face, but "everything was happening so fast, it was pretty hard to tell just how bad she was hurt." A LifeLine helicopter from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis was called to the scene and, according to Trooper McKalip, the pilot landed in a small field just across the road from the house. "He really did a terrific job of putting that bird down on a postage stamp," said McKalip. According to the report, Angela was first flown to the burn center at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis, then transferred later in the day to Riley Hospital for Children. According to Clyde Fishburn of Bowling Green, who owned the house and had recently rented the property to Donna Smith, "A next door neighbor can be credited with saving the adults." Joe Frost, who lives immediately west of Smith's single story frame home, said he had been visiting with his mom and dad, who live nearby, for Sunday morning breakfast and had just returned home. He said he went outside his home to collect wood for his heating stove when he heard an unusual sound coming from the house next door. "I wasn't sure what it was at first, I thought maybe it just my ears ringing... but then I could tell it was a smoke alarm going off in the house next door. At the same time I heard someone yelling and I ran over to find the woman trying to get out of a small window on the east side. I ran back to my house to get a sledge hammer and tried to break open the window enough to get her out, but it was too small." The woman then ran to another, larger window on the other side of the room and Frost broke it out, then helped both Smith and Fields get out of the smoke-filled house... "Then she started yelling, 'my baby's in there, my baby's in there!'" said Frost. As neighbors called for the fire department, Frost said the fire and smoke had increased substantially. Smith and Fields tried a couple of times to go in the house but they had to be pulled back. "I'd been in the house several times and know the lay-out", said Frost, "but there was no way to be exactly sure where the little girl would be... I never felt as helpless in my whole life." Frost said the mother constantly wanted to go inside the house to find her little girl but "we knew it was impossible. We had to wait until the firemen could use their air equipment to go inside... and they really did a terrific job. One of the guys (Armour) hurt his leg pretty bad as they were trying to get her out... but, without the firemen, the little girl would have died." In a very lucky turn of events, the Poland VFD firefighters were in the middle of a Sunday morning training session at their station when they received the call. With nearly a full crew available, it made it possible for the group to make a very quick response to the fire, located four miles to the east on 42. In a move to determine the exact cause of the blaze, the Indiana Fire Marshal's office was called and investigator, Deputy Fire Marshal Mike Fowler was on the scene Sunday afternoon to check for physical evidence. It was reported Fowler planned to conduct the interview portion of the investigation on Monday, prior to issuing a formal report on the cause of the fire. In addition to the Poland VFD, other emergency unit assisting at the fire scene included the Cataract VFD, Cloverdale VFD, Owen County EMS, Putnam County's Operation Life, Owen County Sheriff's Department, Indiana State Police and Red Cross personnel, who responded to provide assistance to the family.
Story Taken from The Hoosier Topics Used by Permission |
