FIREHOUSE ROAD

Brook Stroop, Captain

Woodbourne Fire Company No. 1
Years in service: 18

 

Brook Stroop was on the road with a coworker when they came upon a trailer fire. The co-worker, Tim, was a volunteer firefighter, but at the time - nearly 20 years ago - Stroop was not. 

“Tim ran to the firehouse for a truck,” and while he was getting help, Stroop heard cries coming from inside the burning mobile home.

“There weren’t any human voices, but they were cries for help. Whimpering and barks,” he says.

He couldn’t just stand there, so into the burning building he charged.

“I was immediately forced to drop from the smoke, so I crawled,” he says. “I made three trips inside. Two dogs recovered. Both weak,” he says, but alive.

Tim and the fire department arrived quickly, as did an ambulance. Stroop and one of the dogs were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, and he suffered minor burns.

“I remember sitting on the bumper of the ambulance with an oxygen mask thinking, ‘I could really use some fire gear’,” he says. Shortly after he joined

“That day I learned a lot about myself,” Stroop says. “The reflection in the mirror was a better image than the day before.”