| House fire boy meets his rescuers
July 27, 2006 A THREE-year-old boy injured in a house fire has been visited in hospital by the police officers who helped rescue him from his burning home. Tyler Jameson was rescued through a window of his Kingswood home in Sydney's west yesterday by two police officers and an off-duty firefighter. In the Children's Hospital at Westmead today, where he is being treated for cuts and smoke inhalation, Tyler was smiling and happy as he was presented with a teddy bear, toy police car and Bob the Builder books by constables Mathew McDougall and Kyle Rodger. Const McDougall, 23, who smashed a window so off-duty firefighter Carlos Henry could get the boy out, said he couldn't believe Tyler was doing so well. "When we got him out he was just limp and lifeless," he said. Tyler's mother Star Anderson, 26, thanked the rescuers. "They're lifesavers, I wouldn't have my son if it wasn't for them," she said. Tyler's father, who suffered burns in the fire, was still receiving treatment but doing well, she said. Tyler is expected to be released from hospital in the next few days. Three other children rescued from the blaze are all at home doing well. |
| Family's heartfelt thanks
08Aug06 WITH the soot gone from their faces and ginger hair revealed, the Jameson family from Kingswood finally had the chance to thank firefighter Carlos Henry for saving their son Tyler from their burning townhouse. Parents David Jameson and Star Anderson and their four sons Tyler, 3, Jayden, 4, DJ, 5, and Brodie, 8, visited Penrith Fire Station last Thursday to meet Mr Henry, of Jamisontown, and fire officers from Dunheved Fire Station. Looking healthy and happy, the kids climbed on a fire truck and received teddy bears from the station, including a Spiderman toy from Mr Henry especially for Tyler. ``You're always going to have some sort of connection,'' Mr Henry said. With his burns to his face and hands healing, Mr Jameson said he couldn't thank Mr Henry enough. ``This bloke here, he's a champion,'' he said. ``I wouldn't have a full family if it wasn't for this bloke.'' On the day of the fire on July 26, Ms Anderson said Brodie alerted the family to a smoky smell upstairs. Mr Jameson went to investigate and opened a spare room full of clothes which contained ``nothing electrical''. When he opened the door, the force of the smoke and flames pushed him backwards. Ms Anderson, who was upstairs with Tyler, said the hallway quickly filled with smoke so she opened a window. ``I turned around and I couldn't see Tyler, I couldn't hear him,'' she said. ``I was hysterical.'' Mr Henry, who was dropping his children off at school, saved Tyler with the help of Penrith police officers Constables Mathew McDougall and Kyle Rodger. Dunheved Fire Station officer Brad Howard said when his crew arrived, he saw Mr Henry standing on a ladder. ``His adrenalin was off the scale,'' he said. ``His eyes were like big saucers.'' Ms Anderson said most of her household items were burnt, smoke-damaged or wet and therefore couldn't be salvaged. ``Tyler's high chair was burnt and his playpen was melted,'' she said. She went back to collect a few things including some photos, bits and pieces from the kitchen and her computer, which doesn't work. All furniture was destroyed. Unfortunately, the Jameson family were renting and didn't have contents insurance. ``It was a toss up between getting the kids food and getting contents,'' Ms Anderson said. ``I'm just glad that my family of six is still a family of six.'' The cause of the fire is still being investigated. At the moment, the family is living with Mr Jameson's parents but are desperately looking for a rental property near the childrens' school. After hearing that Tyler loved Bob the Builder, Penrith RSL administration manager Vicki Cullen presented the family with 10 tickets to see him in concert as well as a $100 gift voucher. |
| Boy's lucky day as guardian angels race to rescue
July 27, 2006 TYLER JAMESON may not have realised it, but he had five guardian angels visit him at home yesterday. In a miraculous combination of luck, bravery and skill, an off-duty firefighter, an off-duty nurse and three police officers saved the three-year-old's life, becoming reluctant heroes in the process. The rescue began when a firefighter, Carlos Henry, a nurse, Faith Daubney, and two policemen, Constable Kyle Rodger and Constable Matt Mcdougall, were in the area when Tyler's family home in Kingswood was engulfed in flames just after 8.45am yesterday. The fireman and officers reached the house in time to retrieve the unconscious boy, as the third police officer, Sergeant Jonathon Cornelius, arrived to revive the boy using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as Ms Daubney assisted. Sergeant Cornelius, 39, from Penrith local area command, was keen to apportion the accolades to anyone but himself. "You had an off-duty fireman dropping his kid at school, you had an off-duty nurse dropping her kids off at school, you had two police coming back to Penrith who saw it without any sort of phone calls beforehand," he said. "Whether it was destiny I don't know, [but] the whole thing came together and I'm happy that the boy come out." But a beaming NSW Police Assistant Commissioner, Denis Clifford, would hear none of this. "I think Sergeant Cornelius is being a bit modest there," he said. "The child was not breathing when the child was handed to the sergeant. It was the sergeant that performed CPR and actually brought the child back to life." Mr Henry, 40, who was on annual leave, entered the house without firefighting equipment to retrieve Tyler, but also insisted he had done nothing special. "Any off-duty firefighter going past that premises would have done exactly the same." Mr Henry was far more impressed with the police who assisted him in the rescue. "These police officers, you've got to understand they've never been trained in fire fighting," Mr Henry said. All five emergency workers will be nominated for bravery awards, Mr Clifford said. The drama began as Mr Henry was dropping his children off at school, when he spotted smoke coming from the house. He was told Tyler was trapped inside the burning first floor. The father of the family of six, David Jameson, had managed to help three of his children, aged between five and eight, out of the house, and the mother of the family, Star Anderson, had escaped onto the roof. Tyler was taken to Nepean Public Hospital, where he thanked Mr Henry. "I saw him in hospital while I was there getting checked out," Mr Henry said. "He did say, 'Thanks for saving my life', which is pretty cute. And he also wanted his Bob the Builder DVD." Faith Daubney, 33, a nurse at Nepean Public Hospital on her day off was dropping her children at school when she saw the fire. "I got there just before they had him out," she said. "There were so many people there watching. I ran up the driveway and asked the mother if anyone had any burns. Mum just said 'my boy's still in there, my son's still in there'." When Tyler was handed down she and Sergeant Cornelius began work to revieve the boy. "The first thing I did was a visual assessment of Tyler and we tried to rouse him and it was no go," she told smh.com.au. "We were basically doing the CPR together. Straight away as the guys jumped out of the fire engine I yelled out for oxygen." Like the other rescuers, she played down her actions. "I'm just so glad that he's ok," she said. "I just felt like I didn't do that much." |
| Rescued boy given presents
July 27th, 2006 A DAY after he was pulled blue and unconscious from his burning home, Tyler Jameson, 3, was all smiles yesterday as he was visited by police officers who helped save his life. Sitting in his hospital room, the Sydney youngster was showered with gifts including a toy police car, a teddy bear and Bob the Builder books. Constables Mathew McDougall, 23, and Kyle Rodger, 31, were first to arrive at the scene of Wednesday�s fire at Tyler�s home at Kingswood in Sydney�s western suburbs. With two 3m flames engulfing the property, Tyler�s father David Jameson managed to evacuate his wife and three of their children. But little Tyler was trapped upstairs. Boosted on to the roof, Const McDougall smashed a window with his baton, allowing off-duty firefighter Carlos Henry to jump in and pull the child out. |
| Off-duty firefighter saves Kingswood family
27 July 2006 Off-duty NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) Station Officer Carlos Henry and two local police officers battled intense flames and smoke to save a Kingswood family from a fire that engulfed their two storey townhouse on Wednesday morning. NSWFB Commissioner, Greg Mullins, said the quick and selfless action of NSWFB Station Officer Henry and the police officers may have been the difference between life and death for the family. Station Officer Henry, who was dropping his children at school, saw the fire and climbed up to the second storey of the house and entered the smoke filled bedroom to rescue a child and pass them to the police officers. The two adults and four children, along with their rescuers were all taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Two of the family members also received burns. Commissioner Mullins said the NSWFB received numerous Triple Zero call about the fire just after 8.30am this morning which required seven stations to extinguish. "The actions of Station Officer Henry to enter the fire without breathing apparatus and protective equipment despite the obvious danger demonstrates the commitment of our emergency services to protecting the community," Commissioner Mullins said "I have called for a report on this fire and the actions of the fire officer and police officers with a view to formally recognising their deeds." |
| Pictures below. |
| Tyler with police officers, (from left) Matt McDougall, Jonathon Cornelious and Kyle Rodger |
| Tyler with the fire engine |
| Dave being hosed down after the fire. |
| Const. Kyle Rodger |
| Const. Matt McDougall |
| The house fire that almost took Tyler's life |
| A very huge Thank you to Carlos (the Fire fighter), the police officers and Faith (the Nurse) for helping to save Tyler from the fire and possible death. Our family are very grateful to these wonderful hero's, who without their help, we may not be a family. They will always be hero's in our hearts. Star, Dave, Brodie, David-Blaine, Jayden and especially Tyler. |
| Tyler with police officers, (from left) Matt McDougall, Jonathon Cornelious, Kyle Rodger and me at Westmead Children's Hospital, the day after the fire |
| L-R Back: Minister Kelly, Station Officer Carlos Henry, Commissioner Greg Mullins. Front: David and Tyler |
| Commissioner Greg Mullins with nurse Faith Daubney |
| Tyler waves hello to everyone when his name was called |
| Matt and Tyler at the 2007 Penrith Police Officer of the Year awards, of which Matt won! Pic taken from newspaper |