Jailisa Reyes suffered injuries in a head-on crash Aug. 29 on Route 8 South in Beacon Falls that would have killed almost everybody in her place — but Reyes was that “one percent,” as doctors would tell her, of people who miraculously could survive such an incident.

Reyes is alive today thanks to an incredibly fast and skillful response by Beacon Hose firefighters and EMTs, who extricated and rapidly transported Reyes from her smashed vehicle, and the heroic efforts of the trauma team at Waterbury Hospital, whose lifesaving interventions included 90 minutes of manual cardiac massage to keep her alive.

This first-ever Beacon Hose documentary shares the unbelievable story of how it all happened and the emotions of meeting each other again.

Beacon Hose responded to Morning Wood Drive on Friday, June 25, for a structure fire. After the initial dispatch at 8:09 a.m., firefighter Kevin O’Connell, who lives on the same road, reported heavy fire coming from the home.

We activated our daytime mutual-aid fire protocol, which brought incoming apparatus and manpower from the Naugatuck Fire Department, Oxford Center Volunteer Fire Company, Bethany Volunteer Fire Department, Citizens’ Engine Co. No. 2, and Great Hill Hose Co. Beacon Hose’s Truck 6 and Engine 3 were on the assignment.

Firefighter Mark Pinto, who lives across the street from the home, had already prepared the hydrant and immediately hit the hydrant when Beacon Hose’s Truck 6 arrived first on scene. We established an initial line from Truck 6’s water supply to make a defensive attack on the body of the fire, and additional lines (and later the ladder pipe) were established as soon as flow was established from the hydrant. The bulk of the fire was knocked down within about 20 minutes.

Beacon Hose proudly reports its call volume from 2020.

The volume from 2020 included 231 fire calls and a department-record 766 EMS calls for a total of 997 calls. A further breakdown of fire responses:

 79 calls involving EMS (such as motor vehicle accidents)
 30 calls for service
 28 Hazmat-related calls
 24 fire calls
 20 natural disaster-related calls
 17 miscellaneous calls
 33 false alarms