Retired Waxahachie firefighter saves Ennis neighbor’s house after kitchen fire

Feb. 04--A fireman never retires. At least, that's what Billy Bratcher told his sister after he put out his neighbors' grease fire last week.

And all he needed was an extinguisher and his quick wits.

Although Bratcher retired from firefighting at the Waxahachie Fire Department about 15 years ago, he carries his training and experience with him, including last Friday when his neighbor's stove suddenly caught on fire. Thanks to Bratcher, the fire was contained to the kitchen until the Ennis Fire Department could arrive at the scene.

But if Bratcher wasn't there, the fire could have potentially spread to the attic, which would have ended with the family losing the home.

"If it had gotten to the attic, it would have been a total loss," Bratcher humbly explained. "I wasn't going to let that happen."

27-YEAR FIREFIGHTER

Bratcher began his firefighting career in the 1970s, shortly after graduating high school. Bratcher recalled that he was interested in being a police officer before he even considered becoming a firefighter.

"That's what I wanted to do," he expressed. "I was going to become a cop."

But Bratcher became concerned by the rising fatalities of police officers in the line of duty. According to the Officer Down Memorial page, 239 police officers were killed throughout the nation in 1970, with 11 of them killed in Texas. That number grew to 278 nationally and 26 statewide in 1973.

Bratcher figured that he could help people in another setting. A friend of his encouraged him to become a firefighter, and he quickly found a liking to it.

"The first fire I ever made, you couldn't wipe the smile off of my face," Bratcher smirked.

Bratcher said he was quickly hooked. He worked the first two years of his firefighting career at the Ennis Fire Department, then one year at the Gladewater Fire Department before spending his final 24 years at the Waxahachie Fire Department.

From 1987 to 1993, he even worked with then-firefighter Kevin Strength before he became Mayor in 2014.

"I taught him everything except politics," Bratcher chuckled.

One of the things Bratcher enjoyed about firefighting was the scheduling. He explained that as a firefighter you worked for 24 hours, then you were off 24 hours.

"That means you only worked half a month," Bratcher remarked.

Another thing Bratcher enjoyed was the exhilaration. He said he enjoyed knocking down fires, going into burning buildings and helping the people who were inside them.

"I want to say you're going to have fun, but that's not the right thing to say," he commented. "Not many people get to go into a burning building and play around. You're going this way, and I'm going that way to help somebody."

But the job wasn't always merely fun for Bratcher. Sometimes, the cost of the job took a serious toll on him.

One memory that has always stuck with Bratcher was a fire he responded to in 1976. During that call, there was a three-year-old stuck inside of a burning room.

He said they couldn't save her.

"Me and another guy tried everything we could, but the ceilings were falling in and we couldn't stay in there," Bratcher recalled. "We were only like 15 feet from her."

Bratcher recalled that he knocked the wall down later after the fire had simmered to retrieve the girl's body. He was told by his supervisors to leave the body behind to be recovered. He responded, 'no.'

"We're putting her in an ambulance and taking her to the hospital," he stated. "Then they can pronounce her legally, and she doesn't have to lay in the yard. That wasn't happening."

The full impact of that loss didn't hit Bratcher until much later when he came home and undressed. That was when he realized that girl was the same age as his own daughter and that someone else lost their little girl that day.

Bratcher has carried the memory with him every day throughout his firefighting career and into retirement. But the personal toll was just one of several prices Bratcher paid for doing his job.

OXYGEN AND CARBON MONOXIDE

About five to seven years ago, Bratcher noticed unusual things happening to him. He noticed that he was frequently short of breath, even from light physical activities. His chest was tight, and he occasionally found it difficult to breathe.

His doctor diagnosed him with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, COPD is an inflammatory lung disease the obstructs airflow from the lungs. The condition is caused by long-term exposure to harmful gases or particles, usually from cigarette smoke.

In Bratcher's case, his COPD was caused by his many years working as a firefighter. Bratcher's wife, Karen, said the doctor asked him how many years he had been smoking.

"He's never smoked a day in his life," she remarked.

Karen said that Bratcher had to make big adjustments to his life as a result of his COPD. She explained that he has a respiratory machine he keeps at his desk that he uses for breathing treatments, and he sleeps with a tank of night oxygen whenever he goes to bed.

He also has an inhaler that he uses if he needs any immediate relief from his COPD.

"If he does too much, or gets too excited, or walks too far, anything like that, he'll have to use the inhaler because he's short of breath," she explained.

Recently, Karen said Bratcher has accommodated to his new routines and has responded well to treatment. She said his family very understandably has concerns for his health and tries to keep him away from dangerous gases that may further irritate his condition.

But even she couldn't keep Bratcher from helping others around them -- even if it was at his own risk.

OUT OF THE OVEN, INTO THE FIRE

At first, Jan. 25 was just a typical day for Joyce Vrana. She had just put a chicken into the oven and gone downstairs to straighten some items out in her shed.

There was only one problem. She turned on her stove top -- not the oven. It wasn't long before Joyce realized that something was wrong.

"I smelled something," she recalled. "I came upstairs, and it was blazing. When it just started catching, it was gone. The whole house was just black."

Vrana said she ran outside towards Bratcher's house and started knocking on his back door asking for help.

Bratcher, however, said he didn't hear her. Instead, he listened to his dog, Belle, barking in the front yard in the middle of drinking his coffee.

"That dog was raising hell," Bratcher said. "I can tell her bark where she's barking at something or if something is really bothering her."

When he came out, he noticed Vrana as she pointed toward her house. That was when he saw smoke billowing from inside. He didn't hesitate to grab his two fire extinguishers from his kitchen pantry and a third from his shed.

"Smoke was rolling out from under the porch over there," he recalled. "When I got to the front door, it was smoke from ceiling to floor. "

Bratcher said he pulled his white T-shirt over his face as he went into the home to knock down the fire. He exited and re-entered the residence several times as the fire re-ignited, emptying all three of the extinguishers that he had on him. His efforts bought time as the Ennis Fire Department arrived sometime later to put the fire out themselves.

"I never put it out, but I kept it from spreading," Bratcher stated.

Karen said Bratcher usually takes one breathing treatment a day for his COPD. The day of the fire, Bratcher took two treatments as a precaution.

Bratcher explained that his son later called, expressing pride in his father but also worry for putting himself in jeopardy.

"What would you have done?" Bratcher asked him. "He said, 'Well I would've done the same thing.' I said 'That's what the firemen told me too.' I don't know anything else to do. I'm not going to stand there, hold her hand in the yard, saying 'Well, I hope they get here quick before your house burns down.' I'm not going to do that."

Bratcher explained that after the fire, his family is helping the Vranas get back on their feet. They've come over now and then to check up on them, and Bratcher's sister is bringing a new stove that Vrana can install whenever she's done with the repairs.

Vrana expressed her gratefulness to Bratcher for being there and helping her with the emergency.

"He's taken care of me," she expressed. "They've been such good neighbors to me."

Bratcher remarked that he was just glad the situation didn't get worse and that he was there to do what any good neighbor would want to do.

"I do what I can for her," he said. "She still has a house to live in."

Vrana explained she does not have house insurance and has had to make all of her repairs out of pocket. If you would like to contact her to see how you can help, email [email protected]

___

(c)2019 Waxahachie Daily Light, Texas

Visit Waxahachie Daily Light, Texas at http://www.waxahachietx.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.