VIDEO: Dennis Jenkerson remembers the moment he thought he was going to lose two firefighters like it happened an hour ago.
“When I say trapped, I mean they had nowhere to go,” Jenkerson said. “They were hanging out the window and the fire was blowing out the window above them.”
That was 19 years ago. Jenkerson is now St. Louis Fire Chief Jenkerson. And those two firefighters are now Captain Mario Montero and Captain Steve Fritsch. The men jumped out of the third-story window to survive – Jenkerson broke Fritsch’s fall.
“It was a very, very close call,” Jenkerson said, tears welling in his eyes. “It was a very tough day.”
The three-story home where it all happened in the 4100 block of Penrose Avenue is now gone.
But the memories and the lessons for all of the men involved remain – and are now part of the uniform for all of St. Louis’s firefighters.