Carla Garrison was leaving her Porter Drive home early on the morning of Sept. 21 to head to her moonlighting gig lifeguarding at the YMCA when some unexpected light caught her eye.
The disruption of the normal darkness, what she called pitch black at that time, caused her to investigate, and she saw flames coming from an area across her neighborhood, she said.
“I dropped my bags and grabbed my phone,” she said. Cutting through a yard to get to where the flame was coming from, she called 911 to report the fire, she said.
The Henderson County Office of Emergency Management reported that Garrison’s call to 911 came at 5:10 a.m.
Because of the arrangement of the neighborhood, Garrison said she at first could not tell the exact location of the fire. As she got closer, she learned that the fire was coming from the back of a house on Lee Drive and let dispatch know the location.
Once she got to the house, Garrison didn’t wait for emergency responders. She rushed to the home at 1618 Lee Dr. and “just started pounding on the door,” she said.
When no one answered, Garrison tried the door knob. Luckily, she found the door was unlocked and she entered the home. “I was terrified,” Garrison said.
But she got inside and followed a horseshoe hallway to find Mary Ann Hurd in her bedroom. Garrison escorted Hurd back to the front door, and along the way, she said she looked through the kitchen windows and saw flames shooting up from where the fire had ignited in a garage in the back yard.
Through it all, she said she attempted to keep a clear head so that she could bring Hurd to safety, which she did, taking her to a spot across the street while they waited for fire engines to arrive.
She continued helping Hurd there, asking her questions to ensure everyone was out of the house and safe. She said she learned that Hurd has a son who was not at the home that night. She said the fire that started in the back garage moved to Hurd’s house and a neighbor’s garage.
For Garrison’s actions, the City of Henderson recognized her with October’s Community Spotlight, an award given to residents who have done exceptional things here.
The Henderson County EMA office also wrote about the incident and sent the article to the Hendersonian. It said, in part, that:
“Garrison’s immediate response and willingness to enter the burning residence were critical to Hurd’s survival. Given Hurd’s limited mobility, the rapidly developing fire, and unaware of the danger, she would not have been able to evacuate independently. Without Garrison’s intervention, the incident could very likely have resulted in a fatality. Carla Garrison demonstrated exceptional courage, compassion and concern for the safety of another person she did not even know.”
Not only is Garrison trained to save lives as a lifeguard, she was in the Army for two years earlier in her life and has trained in Tae Kwon Do. Her instincts kicked in at that moment. When the Hendersonian asked Garrison if she thought to pull back and wait for firefighters to arrive at the scene, she responded, “That wasn’t even an option.”
“I’m just so glad God put me in the right place and the right time,” Garrison said.
