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Fire Bell Honors Burn Survivors

Oklahoma firefighters honor the burn patients of INTEGRISBapist Medical Center.

KOSU's Danniel Parker reports.

If fire engine burns down, or goes up in flames, the last thing that survives is its silver bell.

On May 6, 2014, a grass fire outside of Woodward engulfed over fourteen thousand acres of land.

The flames also got Jerry, a local farmer.

Severe burns covered forty eight percent of his body and he was hospitalized for around three months.

On October 3, Captain Gene Brown of the Village Fire Department presented the Baptist Burn Center with a silver bell, and Jerry with a small hammer.

“It begins with the ringing of that bell. They get to go home. They get to be with their loved ones. And, that’s every fire fighter’s goal. So that makes it very near and dear to our hearts also to know that they have survived and gone home to be with their loved ones.”

The silver bell comes from a 1929 Fire Engine from the Oklahoma Fire Fighters Museum.

Hospital officials say this starts a new tradition, chiming the bell every time a burn survivor exists their care in pride.

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