Eglin Airman saves children, dog from house fire

  • Published
  • By Ashley M. Wright
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "I kicked into mother mode and got hit with instincts," said the local hero who risked her life to save others in the face of a devastating fire in base housing.

Senior Airman Ratchel Chapman, 728th Air Control Squadron knowledge operation manager, pulled two children and a family dog from a house fire here March 13 before calling 911, which brought Eglin firefighters to the scene.

"Without her interaction, no doubt those boys would have died," Eglin Fire Chief Mark Giuliano said. "The fire would have broken out and neighbors would have seen it, but by then, it would have been too late. All these things had to line up just right for what was a devastating fire and preventing it from becoming a tragic fire. '

Recovering from foot surgery, the 26-year-old was running late to her oldest son's basketball game. She was set to leave the house when she heard a crying child at the door - Tramell, a 7-year-old neighbor.

"Why are you crying?" Airman Chapman asked. "He said, 'I'm crying because my house is on fire'."

She grabbed her youngest son, Marcus, and Tramell and drove down the block to the burning home.

On the way, the five-year veteran learned the boy's brothers were still in the house.

"I entered the house," she said. "[There was] a medium/light haze of smoke throughout the whole house."

The Airman said she yelled "hello" down the hallways of the home over the sound of smoke detectors.

"I didn't hear anybody; I didn't see anybody. I went back to the room with the door closed and that is when I heard the babies crying," Airman Chapman said. "I scooped up the twins and brought them back to the SUV."

After safely setting the twins with Marcus and Tramell, she returned for a second time to grab the dog, Lady, out of the fire. During a third entry into the smoldering home, she found another closed door .

"I opened the door, and it was like this big cloud of heavy smoke, like a monster smoke that busted out of the room and knocked me down," she said. "It was so scary. It was this never-ending room of darkness. It was frightening."

Airman Chapman recovered from the smoke, shut the door to the house to prevent oxygen from fueling the fire and called 911. She also informed the adjoining neighbors to evacuate.

The fire department responded in three minutes and extinguished the flames in about 20 minutes, said Chief Giuliano. Many aspects of the fire are still under investigation, and the house is considered a loss.

The important thing was tragedy was averted and Airman Chapman saved lives.

"I don't feel good [about the situation]," she said "I feel like a mom. They are not my children, but I feel they are always going to be my children now. "

Airman Chapman believes things just lined up that day.

"Everything happens for a reason," she said. "If it wasn't for that surgery and being on convalescent leave; I would not have been home to take care of those kids; I wouldn't have been late for that game; I would have missed Tramell."

Tramell, who Airman Chapman calls an angel, escaped the fire through a window before rushing to his best friend's house.