Tree Removal Crew Stops Possible Fire, Helps Evacuate Mental-Health Facility
YUBA CITY (CBS13) — A tree removal crew happened to be in the right place at the right time, helping avert disaster at a mental-health facility.
James Morgan was almost done with his tree removal job, not expecting an even bigger task ahead.
"I was here, and I looked back and right there in that crack, I seen smoke," he said.
He thought of the patients on the other side of the wall and jumped into action, getting his three-man crew to help him evacuate the facility.
"There was wheelchairs and walkers and things like that," he said.
They got all the patients and staff out before Morgan tried to handle the smoke, which turned out to be electrical equipment overheating.
"I just ripped the whole thing and broke the lock off and ran in there and turned all the fuses threw all the breakers so it would go out. And it did," he said.
Battalion Chief Eric Parker says Morgan stopped the electrical current just in time. His firefighters told Morgan if he and his guys hadn't taken action, lives could have been lost.
Morgan says he just acted in the moment.
"I have a grandpa in a place like this, and that's what I was thinking about. "I wouldn't want someone like him burning up, so I just wanted to save all of them for their family."
All of the patients are safe and have a new place to stay according to Sutter Yuba Mental Health Service. The repairs will keep them out of the facility for awhile.
As for Morgan, he insists he's not hero. When firefighters took over for his crew, he finished removing the tree.
"We just went back to work and finished up what we had to do," he said.
It turns out all four men in the tree removal crew are also wildland firefighters, and Morgan says that absolutely came in handy today when they trying to keep people calm while evacuating them.
