HERMON, Maine — Members of the Hermon Fire Department and the Hermon Community Policing Unit were recognized Thursday evening for their heroic actions during a July 7 fire that claimed the life of a 9-year-old Carmel boy and seriously injured a 10-year-old cousin with whom he was visiting.
In a resolve read during their meeting Thursday night, Hermon town councilors commended firefighter Mike Simmons and Capt. Chandler Corriveau of the Hermon Fire Department and Sgt. Jamie Kennedy and Deputy Mike Parady of the community police unit.
Simmons was on duty at the town’s firehouse when the 911 call came in shortly after 7 a.m. on the day of the deadly fire, Fire Chief Ray Pipes wrote in a memo to the council and Town Manager Roger Raymond.
As Simmons arrived at the burning mobile home on Wing Road, he was met by Kennedy and Parady.
“It was reported that there were two victims possibly inside and one could be heard crying for help at the rear of the mobile home,” the chief wrote.
“At great danger to himself, FF Simmons advanced the length of the home and located a bedroom at the backside. Inside, he located a barely conscious female juvenile,” Pipes wrote. “FF Simmons then broke out a rear window and passed the girl off to Sgt. Kennedy and Deputy Parady, who passed her off to EMS.”
Pipes said that Simmons then went back down the length of the mobile home, working to suppress the fire with a hose line. While that was happening, he met up with Corriveau, who conducted a search and found the second victim, who was dead.
In the memo, Pipes singled out Simmons for additional praise: “It is my opinion that if not for his quick and selfless action, there would have been two fatalities.”
Wyatt Parker II died in the fire. His cousin Ashlyn Parker suffered from smoke inhalation and was hospitalized for days. A third child inside the residence, 8-year-old John Parker, managed to escape and was able to flag down passing motorists for help, who called 911.