New Year’ s Contribution
n BY JASON COHEN
Millburn Local 34 member rescues woman from car fire on Jan. 1
He had just worked a double shift on New Year’ s Eve and was ready to go home. Instead, Millburn Local 34 member Donald Royce started 2017 by saving a woman from a burning car.
Royce arrived for work at 1:15 p. m. and was scheduled to clock out at 6:45 a. m. However, as he was filling his car with gas, dispatch called out that a tree was on fire on Ridge Road. With tired eyes and an empty stomach, he hopped back in and began driving.“ I didn’ t anticipate to go there and make this rescue,” he said. Although Royce is just 23 and has only been with Millburn seven months, he is experienced. In addition to being a member of Local 34, he has also worked as a Morris County dispatcher, corrections officer and sheriff’ s officer before joining the Millburn Police Department. And he has been a volunteer firefighter in Lincoln Park and Wayne for a decade.
Even without backup or a partner on the morning of Jan. 1, he was prepared to perform a heroic duty that Royce had trained for so many times. As he drove down Ridge Road, something caught his eye.
Royce thought he saw a fire, but wasn’ t sure. Following the glimpses of smoke and flames, he immediately turned right onto Gilbert Place, a dead-end road filled with trees and bushes. He parked on the left side of the road and slowly edged his way down the street, where several bushes were on fire.
“ I thought I heard a moan while walking and I wasn’ t sure what it was,” Royce recalled.“ When you’ re on your own, there is no one to look to, you have to act.”
Suddenly, he froze and in a blink of an eye realized what was really going on. There wasn’ t a tree fire, but a car engulfed in flames and the trees around it were burning as well. Time was of the essence. He sprang into action, ready to risk his life if needed.
With his heart pounding, he raced to his car and grabbed the fire extinguisher. When he returned, he saw an elderly woman sitting in a 2004 Jaguar staring into space, unresponsive. He knew he had to get her out of the car before any further damage could occur.“ I wasn’ t sure if she was dead or alive,” he exclaimed. Royce did not panic. With fire breathing down on him and not knowing if the car could explode at any moment, he popped the door open and bear-hugged the woman out of the vehicle. He then began running backward toward his car to get as far away from the burning vehicle as possible.
“ It was self-safety or fire safety,” Royce explained.“ It’ s like they teach you in the police academy: expect the unexpected. You don’ t even think at that point; you return to save a life. It happened so quickly that EMS wasn’ t initially dispatched.”
Royce noted how even after 10 years of being a firefighter, this was his first time in a fire, let alone rescuing a person.
As he carried the woman to safety, Millburn Fire Captain Adam
Millburn Local 34 Officer Donald Royce
Brenner arrived on scene. He and his fellow firemen quickly extinguished the fire. The woman was taken to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. She suffered minor burns on her feet, but no life-threatening injuries. Royce called her family and found out she was OK and released from the hospital after a couple days.
Royce said he believed the woman got lost and drove through the“ Do Not Enter” sign in the Gilbert Place subdivision in Millburn. Her car then ran over a wire, knocking off its emblem. The car then got stuck in the field and, as she continued to try to get out, her tires kept spinning, causing the fire.
“ It’ s just crazy how it went from a tree on fire to that,” Royce shared.“ I was doing my job, but the adrenaline rush was like no other.” d www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ FEBRUARY 2017 63