Firefighters are no strangers to risking their own lives and safety to protect or save others, but a tornado? That’s something they don’t often worry about, particularly in Naperville. But Sunday night, the team at Naperville Fire Station #2 answered that call.
Deputy Fire Chief Amy Scheller recalls how one lieutenant and four firefighter/paramedics managed to leave the basement of their station after a tree had fallen on the station during the tornado that touched down in several suburbs, including Naperville, Woodridge and Downer’s Grove. The team then proceeded to elevate the alarm and rescue residents from the wreckage.
“This could’ve been an event that created multiple fatalities,” Scheller said, attributing the firefighters swift actions to the outcome of this tornado that kept everyone from being killed and left only eight people injured, five of which the firefighter paramedics had to transport to the hospital, two of which are still being treated at Edward Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
