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Local hero douses trailer fire

Local hero douses trailer fire
It was a glow emanating from a house tucked away in the northern part of Weakley County bordering the Kentucky state line that drew the first responder to take action.
The incident is described as a “divine intervention” which placed a Dresden man at the scene of the rural home last Wednesday morning.
“I responded to a call in Austin Springs that night across from New Salem Church for a medical patient. We had loaded him into the ambulance and as they left, I saw a woman waving her arms trying to flag me down. I noticed a glow coming from the back side of a trailer that was about three or four houses down from where we were at,” Gary Reagan, a first responder and Deputy Chief for the Latham Fire Department, said.
“I was there at the right time and right place by God’s grace,” Reagan added.
With quick thinking and years of experience, Reagan immediately took action to extinguish a fire that had ignited in the bedroom of the neighboring trailer.
“I remember hosing myself down before going into the trailer that had flames underneath and coming out of the backside of the house. The Venetian blinds were melting and the fire was close to the bed. I knew if I could get the fire out inside, then possibly I could the fire outside of the house out,” Reagan described.
Using a five-pound fire extinguisher that he carried in his truck and a garden hose, Reagan managed to dowse the fire that was near an electrical fuse box outside of the house and had already melted pipes and sparked leaves from underneath the trailer.
“When I threw water on the back of the house, it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I saw the fuse box and knew I didn’t want to get that wet,” Reagan said.
With only pieces of a water hose, within 10 minutes, the blaze was eliminated and Reagan’s life, as well as the woman who was living in the trailer was spared. He reported minimal damage to the home.
“We were there for another call a few houses down for a person that was having medical problems. I guess my siren on the truck helped to wake up the girl that was sound asleep at three o’clock in the morning at the trailer. When she woke up, she smelled smoke and normally smoke will get you before anything when you are asleep. God was looking out for that family that night,” Reagan explained.
“There is not a doubt in my mind that God put me there that night. He’s blessed me and that family in so many ways,” he added.
Reagan is currently recovering from the removal of a lung tumor a few months ago. He said earlier that night, he responded to another call in Austin Springs just three miles away from the scene.
Under heavy medication, Reagan said the first call in the area prepped him for what was yet to come, as he remained awake the rest of the night.
His wakefulness gave him the ability to respond to the second call later that night.
“Had they not come to help us, that couple would have perished in that fire,” Elizabeth Gibbons said. Gibbons had placed the original call to 911 for medical assistance for her brother.
“Gary knew exactly what to do to get the fire out and he did it,” Gibbons added.
She described the incident as a “divine intervention” and miracle from God.
“Their lives and everything they had was spared. It truly was a miracle,” she said.
WCP 1.17.08