Shock and awe

Firefighter severely burned by power line back on duty as comrade who saved him receives Medal of Valor.

By SALLY CAPPON
South Coast Beacon

Ironically, the county fire crew that responded to a small grass fire in Cebada Canyon outside Lompoc on Aug. 23 should never have been there.

But firefighters from a nearer station at Lompoc were at a traffic accident.

Howard Orr, an engineer-paramedic from station 11 on Storke Road in Goleta, was an acting captain at Buellton’s station 31 that got the call. Also on the crew that headed west on Highway 246 was firefighter Jonathan Veale, who had just come from another station.

Now, three months later, Orr is back at station 11, recovered from a near fatal electrocution he suffered that Saturday afternoon when he stepped on a downed power line.

Veale, who pulled Orr off the wire, received the Firefighter Medal of Valor Dec. 2, only the fourth firefighter to be so honored in at least 32 years, said Capt. Charlie Johnson, fire department public information officer.

Today, Orr outwardly shows no evidence of his near brush with death. But under his shirt and trousers, tight-fighting pressure garments protect skin grafts on his legs, arm and back – “like wearing a wet suit one size too small,’’ he said.

The tip of one finger was surgically repaired.

Small prices to pay to be alive, he feels.

On Aug. 23, as 7,400 volts of electricity coursed through his 6-5 frame, “My first thought was, ‘This is how I’m going to die,’’’ he said. “I remember thinking how quickly it happened. My next thought was my wife and kids. They were going to grow up without me.’’

The drama began when Orr arrived at the fire burning up a hillside. He and his crew headed through a corral toward a small road to assess where to attack the fire. With their path blocked, Orr got out of the brush truck to pick up a log in a blackened area where the fire had already burned.

“I took one step and stepped on a downed power line,’’ he said. “It was camouflaged.

“It was enough to knock me back. I landed on my back directly on the wire.’’

While conscious, “You’re paralyzed,’’ he said. “You can’t move.’’

Lying on the line about 30 seconds, he waited for a jolt to tap his heart.

Instantly Veale took action.

“He reached for me twice,’’ said Orr. “He got close enough to get arced. He was getting the same contractions. He pulled back.’’

More rescue workers quickly arrived, including a helicopter crew with bundles of tools. Veale grabbed the wood handle of a shovel.

“Jon extended it out to me,’’ said Orr. “I remember hearing, ’Grab the shovel.’’’

Orr’s body refused to respond. “I told Jon, ‘Don’t let me die.’ I was thinking, ‘I’m only 35. I’m not ready to go yet.’

“He laid the head of the shovel in the crook of my arm. He was able to hook the arm and pulled me off.

“A Forest Service guy pushed the line away with a shovel. Jon and a firefighter from Vandenberg each grabbed an arm and dragged me to the road. At that point I was thinking I was going to live.’’

A medic for 13 years, Orr said, “It’s hard to turn yourself over to being a patient.’’

But familiar with electrical burns, he knew, “Most of the damage is internal. It was time for me to let them do their job. I knew I was in good hands.’’

The helicopter that was called to the fire flew Orr to Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria. Accompanying Orr was medic Erik Bielitzer who started an IV and gave him morphine.

Airlifted to the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, Orr was met by a welcoming committee from his years as coordinator of the annual Firefighters Quest Burn Relay in Santa Barbara County which raises funds for burn centers, burn prevention programs and survivors.

“They knew who I was,’’ he said. “They are incredible people.’’

In another coincidence, “I had about 20 guys from L.A. City Fire the first night,’’ he said. They were from a nearby station where Orr and his chocolate Labrador search and rescue dog Duke deployed when they traveled to New York City after Sept. 11, 2001, and to the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City.

After spending two and a half days in the Grossman ICU to monitor possible internal damage, Orr had two surgeries, the second to graft skin from his leg. Eleven days after entering the burn center, he returned to his Newbury Park home and his wife Monique and their children, Taylor, 4, and Dylan, 2.

Anxious to return to work, on his first day in the ICU, he asked a physician when he could get back to firefighting.

“Give yourself a couple months,’’ the doctor said.

Orr made it, to the day.

His first official day back on the job, Oct. 24, he attended an Emergency Medical Services conference in Santa Barbara where a speaker was Dr. Peter Grossman, Orr’s physician at the burn center founded by Grossman’s father. At the conference, Veale, Vandenberg Air Force Base firefighter Charles Brooks, and Fred Mason, a National Forest firefighter, were awarded commendations for their parts in Orr’s rescue.

The day Orr returned to station 11 which houses an aerial truck with a 100-foot ladder, he had a goal: “I wanted to put all my gear on and go to the top of the ladder.’’

He did it.

“I needed to get through this mental hurdle. It was my way of saying, ‘Now I’m back.’’’

Rejoined with Duke at station 11, and with renewed appreciation of family and friends as “the most important thing,’’ Orr said, “I’m lucky to be alive.’’