1/26/11 Saving a life, Brumme acted in the moment

  • By Nick Sabo
  • January 26, 2011
  • 275
                        
When asked what he was thinking as he ran again and again into a smoke filled mobile home, Deputy Paul Brumme will tell you he wasn’t thinking. He was living in the moment, responding to a situation that started out looking bad and was just getting more dire as the seconds went by. After several forays into the burning mobile home at Oak Grove Drive near Doylestown, he finally managed to pull Sheri Dolin outside to safety. Brumme was on duty July 8 when dispatch informed him Dolin, 45, had called in to the justice center to report she was going to kill herself by setting her home on fire. He knew Dolin, having arrested her on a disorderly conduct charge just a few days before. Upon arrival, Brumme saw smoke curling out from the mobile home’s roof. After a brief conversation with a neighbor, Brumme learned Dolin was probably still inside. The possibility that Dolin’s son might be inside as well was cleared up early. So, a woman was inside a burning trailer where she said she wanted to die. Fire personnel were on the way. Brumme went to the door and called inside. A voice answered. “I shined my flashlight inside, told her to come to the light,” Brumme said. “I could hear her inside, she wasn’t making a lot of sense.” She was moving inside. Brumme could hear Dolin but could not see her because of the smoke. As the seconds ticked by, Brumme decided to try and run in and grab Dolin. Holding his breath, he made the mistake of charging into the smoke with his eyes wide open. A burning house isn’t just clean wood beams burning. In the smoke is a mix of chemicals melting out of burning carpet, furniture and insulation and ceiling tiles, paint shaking off aluminum siding as a hot toxic dust. “It’s very heavy, very dirty and it’s a shock as you go in from clean air,” Brumme said. “It’s a polar opposite of air. It makes your eyes water and difficult to keep your eyes open.” Brumme went back in the mobile home several times, taking a pause to recover before each attempt. Eventually, Dolin moved to the door, crawling on all fours. With help from a neighbor, Brumme grabbed Dolin and pulled her out. Brumme and the neighbor then had the task of keeping her from trying to go back in. Dolin has since admitted she was highly intoxicated at the time and says she does not remember anything about the fire. Dealing with the aftermath was much like dealing with the situation for Brumme. Putting his life in danger hasn’t come back to haunt him in reflective moments. “I didn’t get that shook up about it,” Brumme said. “You look to to the goal, which was to get this woman to safety. I just reacted to what was in front of me. It turned out that it ended with the best possible outcome.” Dolin was charged with aggravated arson, a first degree felony, for risking Brumme’s life. The charge was later reduced in a plea bargain that excluded the risk of harm to Brumme. It’s something he’s okay with. “I’m fine with it, I don’t feel anything personal,” Brumme said. “I was done with it that night.” With the fire months in the past, the reaction Brumme often hears is the question, ‘Why did you do it?” followed by “I probably never would have”. “A lot of people say that,” Brumme said. “It’s something with yourself. If she really did burn up, you have to think, what could I have done. You don’t want to look at yourself and think, did I do all I could do?”


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load