‘THE COWBOY’ IS A HERO
Marine veteran rescues neighbor from Swede Street fire
“There’s good people in our community.”
The “good people” Norristown Fire Chief Tom O’Donnell is referring to is Marine Corps veteran James “The Cowboy” Johnson, who rescued a Swede Street neighbor from a fire on Monday morning, arriving on the scene about a minute before firefighters, having called 911 when he spotted the smoke earlier.
“Norristown Fire Department was dispatched at 10:05 Monday morning for a building fire at 1017 Swede St.,” O’Donnell said. “Fire department personnel arrived three minutes later and encountered heavy fire and some smoke showing from the second floor rear of the building. We had reports of entrapment from the fire, somebody was trapped in the building. As fire personnel were arriving on the scene, Mr. Johnson entered the building along with another unidentified male and forced open the door of a second floor apartment and encountered a male occupant who was in distress and on fire.”
Johnson and the unidentified individual safely removed the occupant from the building, where he was treated by paramedics on scene, stabilized and then airlifted him down to Penn Presbyterian Trauma Center in Philadelphia for further treatment, O’Donnell said.
Johnson told firefighters that he grabbed the man around the waist and brought him down the steps and outside, where they used a blanket to put the fire out.
“Mr. Johnson and the other unidentified individual clearly saved this individual’s life by doing what they did,” he added. “Mr. Johnson observed smoke coming from the building and was able to alert the residents on the first floor to safely evacuate and then, with the help of the other individual, was able to rescue the second-floor occupant and bring him out safely. Had they not done what they did I don’t think the occupant would have been saved. So, clearly the world needs more Mr. Johnsons. Without having any protective equipment that we wear or any of the safety ensembles he went in and pulled that guy to safety to be treated by paramedics. He’s a homeowner in the neighborhood and he’s a very humble man.”
The fire was brought under control in about twenty minutes, with no injuries to any fire department personnel, O’Donnell said.
“Mr. Johnson was treated on scene by paramedics and they made sure he was OK after entering the hazardous environment and did not need to go to the hospital himself. If he and the other individual didn’t do what they did that guy would have been dead. He’s a heroic individual and will be recognized at a municipal council meeting for his courage.”
Later, Johnson, who was unavailable for comment, told 6abc Action News, “He was on fire. I said, ‘this is it, we got to get him out of here quick.’ Johnson said he didn’t fear for his own safety. “I was worried about saving a life,” he said.
The department is trying to track down the unidentified person who assisted Johnson in the rescue to formally recognize him as well, noted O’Donnell.
Although he praised Johnson’s courage, O’Donnell said he doesn’t recommend that anyone follow in his footsteps in the same situation.
“We want folks to have working smoke alarms to save lives and we want people to recognize there’s a fire and get out safely but we do not encourage anybody to enter a hazardous environment and not be trained or have the personal protective equipment,” he said. “In a lot of these homes that are on fire you just can’t go into these environments. You can easily lose your life if you’re not trained with the proper equipment. Luckily Mr. Johnson came out unharmed and what he did was remarkable but we certainly don’t encourage anybody to ever do that. Leave it to trained fire department personnel.”