Police chief, fireman save little boy

Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton credited Flomaton Police Chief Chance Thompson and Volunteer Fireman Hunter White for saving the life of a 4-year old boy last Wednesday afternoon when the fire chief discovered the child inside a burning vehicle on Twin Bridges Road.

At 3:21 p.m. last Wednesday Flomaton dispatch received a 911 call of an explosion and a fire at 1119 Twin Bridges Road.

Chief Thompson arrived on the scene to find a car trailer containing a welding machine on fire.

“Chance got on the scene and advised me the welding machine was fully involved in flames,” Stanton said.

Stanton said when firefighters arrived there was an abandoned car about 2 feet away from the burning welding machine.

“When we first arrived we began putting water on the welding machine and the car was on fire,” Stanton said.

Stanton said family members were running around trying to account for the 4-year old.

“Chance said 'is that somebody's head in the car'?” Thomson asked. “He looked through the windshield and saw the kid trapped in the back seat.”

Stanton said Fireman White was standing next to the car and grabbed the child out of the burning vehicle.

“The kid was about to burn up,” Stanton said. “If Chance hadn't seen him in the back seat, he'd be dead.”

White said when he arrived on the scene people were running around and he heard Chief Thompson yell that he thought he saw someone in the vehicle.

“When he said that, I saw it too,” White said. “I opened the door and he jumped out into my arms.”

White, 19, began serving as a junior fireman when he was 16 and became a regular volunteer when he turned 18. The 2018 graduate of Flomaton High School said he was just doing his job.

Now a student at Coastal Alabama Community College, White said he's taking basic nursing classes but isn't sure that's the path he wants to take.

“I want to do something in the medical field,” he said. “You get a good feeling when you help someone.”

He said he was glad Chief Thompson saw the child and he was glad he was so close to the vehicle.

Stanton said the child suffered no burns but did have smoke inhalation. MedStar 16 ambulance crew was on the scene with Tommy Simmons and Donnie Brown.

Stanton said they checked the child out but that the family refused to have him transported to the hospital.

Thompson said he has contacted the Escambia County Department of Human Resources about the incident and an investigation is continuing.

“I thank everyone involved in the incident and our great firemen,” Thompson said. “I especially thank the good Lord for guiding my eyes toward the sweet child.”