On Tuesday, August 10 at 7:00 p.m. during the City Council meeting, Master firefighter Jeff Nichols will be honored by Mayor Bill Haslam and City Council.
Nichols is being honored for his heroic actions taken on July 18, 2010.
On the morning of July 18 at 6:30 a.m., Master firefighter Jeff Nichols was on his way to work. As he exited from I-275 at Eleventh St. he noticed smoke filling the air ahead of him as he sat waiting for the traffic light to change.
His keen senses and years of firefighting training kicked in. Instead of turning left and heading into work, he drove straight ahead to investigate the source of the smoke. He found fire coming from the home at 402 Eleventh St. and quickly spreading to the occupied house next door at 404 Eleventh St.
Jeff called 911 from his personal cell phone giving dispatchers an accurate address and vital information. Nichols then raced to the door of the occupied home and found it to be unlocked, he then went in shouting “FIRE DEPARTMENT, GET OUT YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”
Several college age students were sleeping throughout the home, some were easier to wake than others, and at least one had to be dragged to the door by Nichols. Had Master firefighter Nichols not been there, the outcome would have been tragically different for those six young adults.
