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Profile 2013
THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Fire Chief Gene Cox shovels coal into the furnace at the Decatur Township Volunteer Fire Department.
Underdog fire department Decatur shows a lot can be accomplished with very little
By Michelle Goodman | The Tribune
O
n Dec. 5, 2012, a 14-year-old Ironton teen walked away from her home at the Lawrence Street Apartments, prompting an urgent search and rescue mission from multiple law enforcement and emergency response agencies in Lawrence County. Amber Farmer left home with little more than her Shih Tzu dog, Tobey, and a small Hello Kitty backpack. Her parents reported her missing at about 4 p.m. that day, but by the time the sun went down, the search efforts turned up unsuccessful. Dozens of law enforcement officers, firefighters and volunteers searching on foot couldn’t find Amber. Helicopters from the Ohio State Highway Patrol couldn’t find her. Bloodhounds from the Huntington, W.Va., Police Department couldn’t find her. It was a member of an underdog volunteer fire
department that found Amber, showing all of Lawrence County that big budgets can’t replace training and dedication. Finding Amber The temperature that night dipped below freezing and the search resumed at about 7:30 a.m., this time with two new members of the search team: Don Henry, Decatur Township Volunteer Firefighter, and his Weimaraner, Shadow. By 9 a.m., Henry and Shadow were searching the wooded hillside near where Amber had been last seen with her dog. Henry used Amber’s pillow and one of her shoes to give Shadow the scent. The 3-year-old dog had been trained by Henry for the past two years, first using hot dogs as training aids, then more difficult items. That day, Shadow’s training paid off in a big way. “I think (Shadow) smelled her dog, because he marked the scent,” Henry recalled. “Then he went
straight up the hillside. We went probably 700 to 800 feet, went straight up a hill another 300 feet. There was no dog barking and (Amber) wasn’t talking. And right there she sat.” Once Shadow’s job was done, Henry’s training as a first responder kicked in. “The first thing you want to do is a walk-around,” Henry said. “You don’t know, maybe someone took her up there. The first thing you want to do is preserve your crime scene, if there is one. … The first thing you do as a first responder, you have to worry about your own safety. Because if you are not safe, you definitely can’t keep them safe.” Henry approached the huddled, motionless girl. “I walked around her and I said, ‘Amber?’” Henry said. “And she goes, ‘Yeah?’ It wasn’t loud and she was so croupy that she couldn’t speak. … Once I found out she was alive and there was no foul play, I was excited that I found her. I was real excited, especially because they had been out there all night. It was emotional.”