Kellogg man saves woman in house fire

Oct. 12 is a day Kellogg resident and Grinnell Police Officer Jeremy Stevenson will never forget. Stevenson was on patrol in Grinnell when a call of a house fire came over his radio. The Grinnell officer was just two blocks away from the house on Fourth Avenue in Grinnell, and he quickly responded to the call for help. When he arrived on the scene, Stevenson found the house on fire with flames shooting from the home. “Flames were coming out of the backside of the home, and there were four people standing on the front porch of the home,” he said. Stevenson moved the people on the porch to safety and quickly learned that the family’s grandmother was inside the home. “The oldest granddaughter told me her grandmother was still inside. That she had gotten down the stairs but had been overcome by smoke and was just beyond the doorway,” he said. Stevenson, who has been a member of the Kellogg Volunteer Fire Department for 10 years, put his fire fighting training into action and entered the home to find Dorothy Delk. “I opened the door and made entry into the home. She was 5 or 6 feet within the home,” he said. “I couldn’t see her, but I grabbed an arm or a leg and dragged her from the home.” After getting Delk safely out of the home, Stevenson noticed the woman had been badly burned and most of her hair had been singed off. To keep her out of harm’s way, the police officer and firefighter placed Delk in his patrol car until the Grinnell Fire Department and emergency response crews got to the scene. “Had he not gotten her out of there when he did, she may not be here with us today,” said Captain Theresa Petersen of the Grinnell Police Department. In honor of Stevenson’s heroic act the Grinnell Police Department presented him with the Grinnell Police Department Commendation for Valor. Stevenson received the honor from Grinnell Police Chief Jody Matherly on Dec. 17. “The Valor Award goes to someone who not only saves a life but puts their own life in danger,” said Petersen. “The fact that he put his own life on the line makes this a little more special. I’m sure his fire department training helped him out.” Grinnell Fire Chief Dan Sicard also praised Stevenson for his quick thinking and life-saving decision to enter the home and pull Delk from the fire. “He did a great job,” said Sicard. “Had he not been there I don’t know what the extra time delay before we got there would have meant. I don’t know if she would have come out of that home alive.” Sicard said Stevenson’s act of heroism is typical for the officer. “It’s within his character to do this,” Sicard said. “He’s on the volunteer fire department in Kellogg. He’s a police officer. He’s always out to help other people.” Along with the Commendation of Valor Award from Grinnell, Sicard and Matherly nominated Stevenson for the Sullivan Brothers Award of Valor from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, which has been presented to 72 peace officers and firefighters since 1977. “Not everyone is going to do what he did when put in that position,” said Petersen. “He went above and beyond and put himself in danger.” For Stevenson, he appreciates the honors but said it’s all in a day’s work. “I’m honored by it but to me it’s just doing my job,” Stevenson said. “I feel I was just doing what anyone else would have done.”