DETROIT – Firefighters are being honored for a heroic rescue that saved the life of a baby boy in Detroit.
The devastating house fire occurred in January of 2024, where crews encountered smoke and flames when they got to the home on West Hollywood Avenue, where the now 2-year-old was trapped inside.
In a miraculous turn, they managed to pull him out, and that child survived.
The firefighters showed up at the house with smoke and flames billowing out the windows, which burned the toddler who was trapped inside.
His mother, Jasmine Nesbitt, saw those firefighters again and said thank you.
Nesbitt and her now-two-year-old son are reuniting with the firefighters who rescued him for the first time since the Jan. 22 fire that left him injured.
It happened on West Hollywood Avenue near 7 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in Detroit.
Lt. David Howard found and carried Jayveon, who was 1-year-old at the time, while firefighter Travis Winter battled the flames inside.
The Detroit Fire Department honored the men, each with a medal of valor.
The Detroit Public Safety Foundation will honor the men next month at the Above and Beyond Awards.
While Jayveon’s recovery has required treatment over months, with more procedures still needed, the firefighters said seeing him and embracing him on Monday (Oct. 28) was rewarding.
“It was amazing,” said Howard. “Just to be able to hold him in a better situation than he was when I first held him.”
“It all comes down to the training,” said Winter. “It’s just second nature, really. We knew what we had to do. There was somebody trapped and we went and executed our plan that we thought would work, and it worked.”
Although it was a plan that worked, firefighters have a plan for situations like the one that happened with Jayveon.
They want you to have a safety plan, talk to your family about getting out safely and where to meet, and have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
The rescuers said that although the rescue—rescuing a young child from a burning home—was unique, they practiced the scenario over and over again, running into a building that just didn’t have the flames and smoke like the one Jayveon was involved in.
