by Aundrea
Cline-Thomas
COLUMBIA,
Tenn. - Fires can be devastating, especially during the holidays. No one knows
that more than a Columbia firefighter who responded to a call early Friday
morning only to learn that it was his house up in flames.
After 12
years of being a firefighter, seeing a charred house is an unfortunate part of
Josh Wall's job.
"[The]
couches, all that's gone. [The] Christmas tree [is] gone. [The] presents [are]
gone," Wall told NewsChannel5.
Fellow
firefighter Will Craft said when he arrived on scene the house was fully
engulfed in flames.
"The whole
left side of his house, his car port, both of his vehicles, flames were
shooting ten/fifteen feet high," said Craft.
Each
firefighter hopes, they pray that the emergency call they respond to every day,
never personally impacts them.
"Halfway
on our way here [Wall] realized that this was his house," Craft said.
"Yeah it
[gave] me that sick feeling," Wall said.
Around
midnight, Wall's wife and three children were all asleep at home. The dogs
started barking, alerting his wife that there was a fire.
"She got
out of bed, went to window, and saw there was a fire on the carport," Wall
said. "By the time she got back, got the kids out of bed, got out in the
yard the fire had advanced into the house."
The first
firefighters arrived almost immediately. Wall was there minutes later, ready to
work.
"There's
no sense in me standing in the yard watching," Wall said. "I needed
to do my job too."
The job quickly
became far from routine.
"We work
hard when it's anybody's house, but when it's one of our employees we put some
special, more care into it just because it's our guy," Craft said.
"It's our buddy."
Hours later,
the firefighters were being called on in a new way, for support.
"[I'm]
just blessed that my family is okay, and I still got my three kids and
wife," Wall said.
The house was
a total loss.
Wall said his
family would stay with family. The community has been rallying around Wall and
his family, by providing donations, which can be taken to Fire Station 1 on
South Garden Street in Columbia.
