It was with a standing ovation from firefighters, fire commissioners and members of the public that Lewis County Fire District 5 presented Josh Weinke with a Citizen’s Hero Award for rescuing a neighbor from a house fire in rural Chehalis last month.
“It gives me a lot of honor to be able to do this, because to describe a little bit about what he did, it was pretty amazing. He doesn’t think so. He’s a very humble kind of guy, but that’s what I like about him,” said District 5 Chief Dan Mahoney, who presented Weinke with the award during a District 5 fire commissioners’ meeting at the Napavine station Thursday evening.
Weinke received a plaque honoring him “for the heroic act, on Monday, June 26, 2021, of entering a fully involved house fire, risking his own life, to save the life of another, a resident at 430A Kirkland Road and getting her safely outside prior to the arrival of Lewis County Fire District 5 personnel.”
The day of the fire was one of the hottest in recorded Lewis County history.
Weinke, owner of Reliable Residential Construction in Chehalis, had sent his employees home early due to the intense heat and was cooling off at home when his teenage daughter ran in to tell him she thought the neighbor’s house was on fire, Weinke told The Chronicle.
Weinke ran to the house and spoke to one of the home’s two residents, and learned that the other resident — who was mostly non-ambulatory — was still inside.
“To describe in our words what it was,” said Mahoney, “that structure was fully involved. The flames were immense … as he opened the door, the smoke that came out was pitch black.”
Weinke got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the house.
Given how intense the fire was, Mahoney said Weinke likely experienced temperatures between 200 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit when he crawled in. Had he stood up, he would have been met with temperatures between 800 and 1,600 degrees.
Weinke went roughly 15 feet into the house until he found the entrapped resident’s leg and pulled her to safety.
“And she’s alive today,” Mahoney said.
Even though it only took six minutes total for crews to arrive after neighbors called 911 — three minutes and 21 seconds from the time 911 dispatched District 5 — Mahoney previously told The Chronicle that the incident would have likely been a fatal fire had Weinke not stepped in to help when he did.
“Anybody would have done it,” Weinke told The Chronicle after accepting the award.
But Weinke was the one who did. And because of his actions, an incident that could have ended in tragedy is instead remembered as an example of local heroism.
