Two Redmond EMS employees found themselves in the right place at the right time when a call from dispatch stated there was a structure fire at 375 Grover Rd., off of Hwy. 278 just east of Cedartown, during the noon hour on Wednesday.

Paramedic David Byrd and emergency medical technician, Spencer Reynolds arrived at the location prior to Polk County volunteer fire units due to having an EMS station right down the road from the Grover Road residence. They gathered information from the residents that the fire was a stove fire that was still burning.

Byrd, who was a fireman in Cobb County for 23 years, went to investigate the fire and found that it was still small, but it was close to doing some damage to the walls and cabinets of the kitchen in the mobile home.

Byrd said he did not hear sirens, so he sent Reynolds after the fire extinguisher located in their ambulance.

Because of the quick response of Byrd and Reynolds, the small grease fire was extinguished quickly and resulted in only minor damage, most of which was to the vent over the stove, said Chuck Dawson, chief of east side of Polk County volunteer fire departments.

After the fire was extinguished, volunteer fire departments used fans to clear smoke from the home. Firefighters also removed the stove and oven unit from the home.

Firefighters on the scene stated that EMS is dispatched with every fire call as part of protocol. Mostly this is done to ensure that the residence of the burning home and the firefighters receive the medical attention they need.

However, in this instance the EMS employees were able to assist in another way.

“Robert Early (the director of Redmond EMS) is very good about making sure all our extinguishers are filled and charged,” Byrd said. He added that it is state mandated that ambulances have a working fire extinguisher, but despite the mandate that is not the case in all counties in Georgia.

Firefighters also added the combination of EMS stations and volunteer fire departments spread out around the county helps to ensure that emergency personnel will be on the scene quickly.

Emergency personnel on the scene said EMT and paramedics often do cross training with the fire departments just in case a situation arises like the one at the Grover Road home.