Majestic Restoration

Years ago I worked for the Atlantic City Police Department, Traffic Division. An incident that I recount daily happen while working out of the Accident Bureau. Sometime in my fifth year of being a Traffic Officer. It was mid-September 1984. On duty one night I was standing on the bus lot in front of Caesar casino in Atlantic City. I was having fun talking to a girl I just met, and hopefully will get to know better? To give you a little background in the past few days I had attempted suicide by drinking to much alcohol. That’s the way I drank while off duty. I remember going to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point two days before that incident. They put me through hell by drinking a charcoal solution and taking 15 vials of blood for testing. I convinced the Hospital to let me go home and so they did.

Back to my story, I was talking to this bus attendant when all of a sudden a man was running towards me and he had identified himself as a Patterson Police Officer. He stated that there was a working fire and pointed towards the direction of the fire. I got on my two-way radio and cleared the air for this announcement. I started to run towards the fire not far from were I was standing. As I started to run I felt the effects of the attempted suicide. I had hemorrhoids from drinking all of that charcoal solution in the hospital.

I finally got to the location of the working fire. It was 17 North Arkansas Avenue. It was an old abandon rooming house. The homeless people lived in there. I felt very close to the homeless people because I too, was a drunken alcoholic. The front passage way was blocked off by plywood so I ran to the back door. I entered the building. I was greeted by four homeless people. I then escorted the four people out to a safe location.

I then went back into the burning building to locate any other persons that may be inside. I went upstairs to the second floor. The fire was just on the other side of the stairways. I spotted another homeless person who was asleep in one of the rooms. I awoke him and lead him downstairs and outside. He kept on yelling for “Johnny”. He said Johnny is inside. So I went back into the building again to find Johnny.

Well I found Johnny on the third floor. He was dead drunk. I tried and tried to get him up but he wouldn’t get up. So I then grab his private section to awaken him, and that worked. I then just about carried him down the three flights of stairs right next to the fire and into a safe zone. Just then the Fire Department arrived. The Chief asked me to show him were the fire started.

So I went back into the burning building--unprotected and into a now smoke filled building. I wanted to check all of the rooms before I left the building forever. I kicked in all of the doors on the rooms and turned all of the debris so I could not miss anyone else in the building. I felt personally involved and connected to that fire at that time. I then felt secured that no one else was in the building so I left the building. I was choking and flem was leaving my mouth and nose.

I was burned, my shirt and hat was burned. I was choking a lot so I left the crowd and went to the emergency ambulance for care. I was treated for smoke inhalation. I was given cool oxygen to help me breathe better. My heart was pounding hard and it was hurting.

It was suggested to me that I have a check up by the Atlantic City Medical Center. I wanted to say near the fire and have closure to this incident. I spoke to the Arson Investigator and gave a description of a young man that was hanging around and asking me questions before this fire incident.

Was late at night the fire took about six hours to clear up. The crowd was gone, the newspaper reporters were all gone and gone were the fire trucks. I felt lonely there in the ambulance still with chest pains. The pains were getting worst and I felt the need to go to the hospital. I was taken to the emergency room and there I waited…for hours.