On January 25, 2023, several nearby workers and area firefighters helped save residents from an apartment structure fire in Moline.
MOLINE, Ill. — The city of Moline honored eight individuals for their rescue efforts in a January apartment structure fire.
At a Tuesday, Feb. 7 Moline city council meeting, Fire Chief Steve Regenwether awarded Asplundh tree service workers Kevin Wardrip II, Austin Church, Gary Jens and Myles Peck with the City of Moline life saving awards. Rent QC, J.C. Millman workers David Qualls and Jordan Blake were also awarded.
East Moline Fire Department Lieutenant Mike Rettig along with Moline Fire Department Engineer Mike Herrick also received life saving awards at the city council meeting.
On January 25, the Moline Fire Department responded to an apartment on fire at Timber Knoll Apartments complex in Moline. They arrived on scene to discover dense black smoke coming from the second floor and the roof of the building.
News 8 spoke with two of the civillian workers who were honored, David Qualls and Kevin Wardrip II. Wardrip explains the events leading to him stepping in to help.
“It was a typical day at work. You know, just another day, I was in the area of the apartment complex,” Wardrip said. “And I went back to my truck to refuel my saw and seen black smoke coming out of the top of the building. Me and my coworkers started walking over there. You know, we heard people start yelling for help. And there was some maintenance, on the property. They had ladders. And I mean, instantly, we just took action and put ladders up on the balconies and started assisting people down.”
David Qualls on the other hand, was inside the building when he realized something was wrong.
“I was in the apartment down at the very end of the building and we were doing some general maintenance, repairing a garbage disposal when we heard the alarm go off, and went out into the hall and discovered the stairs on fire,” Qualls said.
Qualls also assisted by evacuating people off their balconies using ladders. Luckily, nobody died in the fire.
The fire burned the second floor of the building, and left the rest unlivable. Frederick Mackenzie, a former resident of the complex, was arrested and charged with aggravated and residential arson.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8’s YouTube channel