Navy Chief Rescues Baby

By April Phillips, Naval Safety Center Public Affairs

May 13, 2010 - JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- A Navy Chief rescued an infant from a burning house May 11 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Chief Gas Turbine System Technician – Electrical (SW) Bryain Williams suffered an injury in his arm while trying to get access to the smoke-filled home. The Naval Safety Center received a report about a cut Williams received that required six stitches.

Williams and his wife were at the house because they were considering adopting a mastiff-bloodhound mix from a woman who lived there.

"We decided we were going to take the dog and were getting back in the car to drive off when she ran back out and told us there was a fire and her four-month-old baby was in the house," Williams said.

The fire started in the kitchen and quickly spread. Williams saw the smoke and acted quickly.

"I'd been on ships for a long time, so I know what that much smoke means," he said.

Although he'd never been inside the house, and the woman was too hysterical to tell him where the baby was, he quickly located a crib through the dense smoke.

"I tried to push the crib out the door, but it was too big, and I couldn't see, so I grabbed the baby and got him out," Williams said.

He delivered the child to his screaming mother, and thought she said there was an older child still in the house. The front door had locked behind him, so he went back in by breaking through a double-paned glass door in the back. That's how he sustained the cut. He was seeking the second child when the mother's hysteria subsided and she realized that he was safe at his grandmother's house. She called Williams out of the fiery home.

In spite of the danger, Williams said he never thought twice about entering the house.

"I've got a two-year-old and that's all I could think about," he said.

Rear Adm. Arthur J. Johnson, Commander, Naval Safety Center, said he was pleased to hear about Williams' quick thinking.

"The vast majority of mishap reports received at the Naval Safety Center highlight poor decision making, risk management or training," he said. "It's refreshing to get one from the other end of the spectrum, highlighting heroic actions, outstanding risk management and superbly inculcated Navy training."

Williams does credit his Navy training for allowing him to save the infant. He was qualified as Engineering Officer of the Watch on his last ship, and said that training allowed him to act quickly.

Williams said the baby he rescued is doing great, and he and his wife have welcomed a new addition into their own family. They adopted the dog, whose name is Goliath. Williams thinks there's a reason he was in the right place at the right time.

When he was stationed in Hawaii, he and his wife wanted to adopt a mastiff. They'd already decided to name it Goliath when his wife was diagnosed with cancer and they determined it wasn't the right time to get such a large dog. Now living in Jacksonville, they figured it was meant to be when they saw that a mastiff named Goliath needed a good home. Williams believes he was meant to get that dog and be there to save the child.

"I told the family that God works in mysterious ways," he said. "I really believe that."