High school golf team helps save residents as apartment fire rages

 

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – Someone saw smoke 50 yards away, and coach Chuck Ross immediately yelled for others to call 911.

 

Turning in that direction, Ross and members of his Underwood High School golf team saw the horror – a seven-building apartment complex engulfed in flames.

 

After making a 911 call, golfer Chad Peterson and teammate Braydon Consley ran after Ross and coach Chad Gronner toward the burning apartments.

 

As they got there they yelled, threw stuff through windows and Ross even kicked down a door to one of the apartments.

 

Some of the tenants were already aware of the fire, others on the side furthest away from the flames were alerted by their efforts.

 

They helped carry one elderly woman out of the building. The woman recently had leg surgery and couldn't walk, Peterson said.

 

"She was really upset," he said. "We kept her calm. Told her that it was going to be alright."

 

When they stepped inside some of the apartments, they could see the fire creeping through the building, Consley said. (A video the newspaper linked to on YouTube doesn't show the golfers, but does show the fire's severity.)

 

It was a situation Peterson was remarkably prepared for as a high school senior. He had received his first responder certification last year, and had been taking EMT classes through Ringdahl Ambulance Services since January.

 

"It has put me into a helping people mindset," he said. He plans on studying criminal justice at North Dakota State University next fall.

 

Peterson said he would like to work as an EMT.

 

"It's something I've always wanted to do," he said.

 

Thanks to the team's efforts, no one was injured in the blaze Wednesday that completely leveled the apartments near Balmoral Golf Course.

 

On Thursday afternoon, Ross, Gronner, Peterson and Consley were honored at a school assembly at the Underwood High School.

 

Underwood Principal John Hamann praised them for going above and beyond in their actions during the fire.

 

"I think it was a great lesson for all the other students in our building," Hamann said. "Being a hero means sacrificing of yourself to help others. It was a time we could spend thinking about that."

 

To be called heros was a strange feeling for both Peterson and Consley.

 

"I don't feel like a hero," Peterson said. "I'm sure others would have done the same."

 

Ross again praised Peterson's and Consley's actions, saying he was very impressed with their composure, level headedness and maturity in the chaotic and intense situation.

 

"We were just in the right place and time," he said.

 

Peterson and Consley said the danger of the situation didn't really strike them until they were on the bus heading back home.

 

"You don't really think about it," Peterson said. "Your instincts take over."

 

This article was written by Jacob Tellers from Fergus Falls Daily Journal, Minn. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.