Georgia Magazine - May 2021 - 38

J

ust after 4 a.m. on July 9, 2018, a series of alarm
tones jolted Statesboro firefighters from their sleep.
Brad Bouchillon, Rabon Hutchinson, Marcell
Farmer and others sprang from their beds as the voice on
the firehouse speaker announced a nearby structure fire
with " confirmed entrapments. " A minute later, the firefighters
barreled toward an apartment building.
" We saw smoke coming across Georgia Avenue as we drove
up, " Bouchillon recalls. " And we could see the glow of the fire in
the back. "
Veteran firefighters use the term " controlled chaos " to
describe what happens on the scene of a blaze when first
responders arrive. Their intensive training kicks in, and they
seem to move on " autopilot. "
" The 911 operator had one of
May 4 is International
the occupants on the phone, and so
Fireﬁghters' Day.
we knew she was on the second floor,
and we knew her apartment
number, " Hutchinson says. " Marcell and I rushed in. The fire
was rolling down the hallway-high heat and low visibility.
Marcell fought the fire, and I tried to find her. "
Hutchinson and Farmer found the victim and carried her
down the stairs, where they handed the unconscious woman to
other firefighters. Then the two raced back in to continue
battling the blaze.
In the meantime, Bouchillon and his team were setting up
a fire hydrant when a Statesboro policeman shouted that
another occupant was " hanging out of a second-floor window

38

Georgia Magazine

May 2021

KATHLEEN O'CONNOR

Statesboro
firefighters
honored for
historic rescue

E DEPARTMENT

By Amber Lanier Nagle

ATESBORO FIR
COURTESY ST

Hometown HEROES

Above: Brad Bouchillon, left, and
Rabon Hutchinson stand beside a
Statesboro ﬁre engine. Left inset:
Marcell Farmer, right, who now works
for the Richmond Hill Fire Department,
receives a Statesboro Fireﬁghter of the
Year Award for 2019 from Fire Chief
Timothy Grams.

that had smoke billowing from it " in the back.
" The PD [police department] secured the extension ladder
for us, and I climbed up, " Bouchillon says. " The victim was
afraid to climb down at first. I reassured him that he wouldn't
fall and got him down. "
The two occupants were taken to the hospital for medical
treatment. They survived.
" Without hesitation, these three men took action to rescue
the victims and extinguish the fire, " Statesboro Fire Chief
Timothy Grams says. " It's what firefighters across America do
every single day. "
Grams presented Bouchillon, Hutchinson and Farmer with
Medals of Valor for having endured extreme personal risk in
saving another person's life. Thirteen others in the department
received Unit Citations recognizing their efforts in the response
and rescue operation.
The praise and accolades make them uncomfortable, and
they shrug off words like " fearless " and " hero. "
" We do our jobs-that's all, " Bouchillon says.
Amber Lanier Nagle is a freelance writer living in
Adairsville.

Do you know a hometown hero?
See page 37 for information about submitting a nomination.
Georgia Magazine - May 2021

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