Two Springfield firefighters are being recognized for saving a baby from an apartment explosion caused by natural gas.
The state awarded the fire service’s highest honors during the 43rd annual Ohio Fire Service Hall of Fame & Fire Awards ceremony, held April 24, 2024.
Springfield firefighters Robert Bloom and Aaron Lopez were among 12 individuals and one fire station honored.
The event recognizes “the valor, dedication and exemplary service of fire service members from across the state.”
A video detailing the tragic event can be seen here.
While the then 11-month-old girl survived, she suffered burns and was hospitalized for several weeks. The baby’s mother, Macdala Ducatel, 39, died on April 15, and Ducatel’s sister, Edeline Ducatel, on April 10.
All Things Considered Host Jerry Kenney spoke with Bloom about what happened that day, and how it felt getting the award.
This transcript has been lightly edited for time and clarity.
Robert Bloom: We were just getting ready for lunch when a call came in that there was a suspected natural gas leak at apartments that are just up the road from our station.
We called for the engine medic. They also called for the rescue and a couple other vehicles from different stations.
We were pulling up. I looked over, I could see my guys getting ready to walk up to the house, make sure everybody was out.
"I point Aaron to the crib and I tell him, 'You got to dig.' So he starts digging and finds the baby, and we walk out of the apartment."
That's when I noticed there's just all this stuff flying through the air. Finally it clicks with me: the apartment just exploded.
As I got out of the vehicle, I saw one of the victims, and I made my way around to the other side of the vehicle.
I could hear the baby screaming upstairs in the crib, which you could see the crib because the whole wall at the front had collapsed.
After making sure my guys were okay — because I knew how close they were to the apartment when it blew up — I found the other guy I was with on the engine, Aaron Lopez, who's the other one that got the award, told him, 'Mask up, let's go! We got to go in there now!"
And so we make our way into the house, find the staircase, make our way upstairs and turn to the front room. I point Aaron to the crib and I tell him, 'You got to dig.' So he starts digging and finds the baby, and we walk out of the apartment.
Jerry Kenney: You're obviously a little calmer in the retelling of this, but what's it like in a moment like that, when the adrenaline is just pushing you through?
Bloom: It's one of the things I've noticed about the incident now. I have had a little bit of trouble with some of the retelling of the incident, just because there's blank spots in my memory, which I believe is part of the adrenaline rush and all that.
Everybody I've talked to, who's heard the radio reports and all that, were floored at how calm I was during the incident. And it's just one of those things. I had to get something done or bad things could have happened, especially to that baby.
And I just did what needed to be done.
Kenney: Well, you mentioned Aaron Lopez and you both received an award of valor and were celebrated at the annual Hall of Fame Fire Awards ceremony recently. Tell me what it was like to receive notice for what happened that afternoon last April.
Bloom: It was a pretty cool ceremony. They actually did a whole fancy video of us for the ceremony, which I thought was fun. It's the first time I've been a part of any movie production.
It's the first time I've ever been to the ceremony. Not only did it celebrate us, it celebrated many people with many different awards that they were very much deserving.
None of us get into this job to get awards, but to be recognized for what we did is great.
We were just doing our jobs, and I did what I hoped anyone else in my situation would do.
Kenney: What about friends and family? How did they react to both what you did that day and to the Valor Award?
Bloom: I know most of my family is very proud of me. My father actually earned a valor award for saving a kid in, I believe it was 1997, so to see his son now getting a valor award, that's a real proud dad moment there. I know the rest of my family is amazed that I did that. And they're happy that I got the recognition with the award.
Kenney: What is a situation like that do? I would imagine it creates an even tighter bond among your fellow firefighters to go through something like that.
Bloom: It's definitely something that brought us all together because the nature and size of that incident, one thing somebody told me that I think stuck with me was 'this is a run that people are going to be talking for 20 years from now.'
At first I was like, no, this isn't something like that. But when you really think about what happened and what we did that day, it's definitely one that's going to be around for a long time and people are going to remember what happened.
