thedrifter
11-19-05, 01:06 PM
Pair of Iwakuni Marines who rescued noodle vendor identified
Quick action saved man after clothing caught on fire
By Greg Tyler, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, November 20, 2005
Two Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni personnel were identified Friday as the pair whose quick thinking helped rescue a Japanese noodle vendor from fire earlier this month.
After Japanese firefighting officials reported what the two Americans had done, base officials said, they tried to identify the good Samaritans.
A newsletter and several e-mails circulated to commands over two weeks did the trick, they said. The men were identified as Sgt. Bryan Stinger from Marine Fixed Wing Fighter Attack Squadron 312 and Jack Mendez from the base recycling center.
Stinger and Mendez had stepped outside Teaserz, a club just outside the main gate, at about 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, Mendez said. That’s when they saw flames coming from a vehicle near Masayoshi Tanabe’s noodle stand.
“We ran back inside Teaserz and asked for fire extinguishers,” Mendez said Friday. “Then we ran to the fire and the extinguisher I had didn’t go off.”
The second fire extinguisher worked “and we just put the fire down,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about anything. It was instinct. In fact, I don’t even specifically remember that a man was on fire. I just remember there was fire and trying to stop it.”
Iwakuni city emergency responders arrived, extinguished the fire and attended to the burned noodle vendor, who remained in a local Japanese hospital.
The vendor was refueling an electric generator when it burst into flames and ignited his pants, said Kiyomi Tao, an official from Iwakuni city’s Central Fire Station.
Tanabe told firefighters that two foreigners put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, Tao said.
Stinger was not available for comment Friday afternoon.
Ellie
Quick action saved man after clothing caught on fire
By Greg Tyler, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, November 20, 2005
Two Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni personnel were identified Friday as the pair whose quick thinking helped rescue a Japanese noodle vendor from fire earlier this month.
After Japanese firefighting officials reported what the two Americans had done, base officials said, they tried to identify the good Samaritans.
A newsletter and several e-mails circulated to commands over two weeks did the trick, they said. The men were identified as Sgt. Bryan Stinger from Marine Fixed Wing Fighter Attack Squadron 312 and Jack Mendez from the base recycling center.
Stinger and Mendez had stepped outside Teaserz, a club just outside the main gate, at about 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, Mendez said. That’s when they saw flames coming from a vehicle near Masayoshi Tanabe’s noodle stand.
“We ran back inside Teaserz and asked for fire extinguishers,” Mendez said Friday. “Then we ran to the fire and the extinguisher I had didn’t go off.”
The second fire extinguisher worked “and we just put the fire down,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about anything. It was instinct. In fact, I don’t even specifically remember that a man was on fire. I just remember there was fire and trying to stop it.”
Iwakuni city emergency responders arrived, extinguished the fire and attended to the burned noodle vendor, who remained in a local Japanese hospital.
The vendor was refueling an electric generator when it burst into flames and ignited his pants, said Kiyomi Tao, an official from Iwakuni city’s Central Fire Station.
Tanabe told firefighters that two foreigners put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, Tao said.
Stinger was not available for comment Friday afternoon.
Ellie