Special to the Surveyor

The Berthoud Fire Protection District would like to share with your readers a positive and encouraging story involving an amazing unsung hero in Berthoud, of whom we had the privilege of acknowledging.

Last week we honored one very selfless and caring citizen of Berthoud: Nicole Jenkins, who is a very active community member. She was awarded Berthoud Fire Protection District’s first Civilian Meritorious Service Award.

On the award is engraved “For her selfless actions in quickly evacuating a building during a commercial fire Feb. 9, 2020. “

On Feb. 9, 2020, at 4:44 p.m. Berthoud Fire was dispatched to a commercial structure fire at the Berthoud Laundromat on Fourth Street. Upon engine crew arrival heavy smoke was visible on the interior of the laundry facility on the first floor of the two-story commercial building. Crews quickly cleared the building having found no one inside. All occupants had been evacuated by Jenkins prior to crew arrival. Jenkins who was in the building at the time the fire occurred, along with several other occupants, saw the smoke and called 911, and immediately began evacuating everyone in the laundromat and the building directly above it. The dance hall, above the laundromat, was also evacuated by Jenkins where approximately 15 people had been gathered. Everyone was safely evacuated.

Jenkins recalls the feeling of shock when the smoke began pouring into the laundromat and when she shouted “Fire!” no one was leaving. “I thought, come on, we need to get out!”

Jenkins also noted her amazement and gratitude due to the fact that three fire engines arrived on the scene before she was even off the phone with dispatch.

Due to Jenkins’s quick actions to report the fire and evacuate the building, and the fast response from Berthoud Fire units, the fire was extinguished with no injures sustained and the structure saved from complete damage.