Keosauqua fire chief honored for saving man on fire

KEOSAUQUA ? For more than four decades, Keosauqua Fire Chief Noel Harlan has responded to the call of duty ? extinguishing fires and saving lives; but while off duty Sept. 14, 2014, the call came a lot closer to home.

?I was at home mowing the yard when the fire came into my own backyard,? Harlan said, adding that the fire originated not far from his residence. 

?Being fire chief, I went down the street to investigate the fire,? he said, explaining that he found the source of the blaze, and called the fire department. Moments later, he discovered his neighbor Max Wellborn engulfed in flames.

?His whole bottom half was on fire; most of his clothes were burned off,? Harlan described. ?I ran over there and put his tennis shoes out ? he was just sitting there on the back of a trailer on fire; he didn?t expect to live.?

Wellborn, who was cutting scrap metal when sparks ignited the grass around him and the insulated, greasy coveralls he wore, agreed that he had accepted what appeared to be the inevitable.

?I had tried to put the fire out, and I couldn?t. I went around to set the oxygen and [Acetylene] out ? I didn?t want it to get any worse ? and I walked back around to the trailer, and just prepared to die,? Wellborn said. ?It was just about, too late ? he showed up at the right time.?

?After I put out the fire, I didn?t touch him, I just waited for the ambulance. He had blisters all over his legs,? Harlan said. ?You just respond to the call and you do what you can do.?

Recently, the Iowa Department of Public Safety awarded Harlan the Sullivan Brothers Award of Valor for his heroic efforts that day.

?I received the award Oct. 5, in Des Moines,? Harlan said. ?My wife and two daughters and two granddaughters went, too.?

Although Harlan?s wife Carol was proud of him, she wasn?t surprised.

?Noel just does what he has to do in a situation ? nothing surprises me. He?s done quite a bit of things. He has seen a lot working for the fire department,? she said.

Wellborn said he?s thankful that Harlan moved when he did.

?As far as I?m concerned, he needs several awards,? Wellborn said, adding that he had heard two years ago when the incident occurred that Harlan wouldn?t have been eligible for the award because he was a firefighter.

?I guess he didn?t qualify for that award, but they created a new award and he was the first one to get it. That all come about when [Gov. Terry] Brandstad visited, and somebody told him about what happened and he said, ?we?ll have to see what we can do about it.? That?s how the story come to me,? Wellborn said.

Although the fire claimed Wellborn?s legs, he?s still doing what he loves to do, which is giving tours of the historic Wickfield Pavilion ? the round barn in Cantril.

?After it happened, I was in Iowa City for 14 days, then out here at the [Van Buren County] Hospital for 41 days, then I finally moved to the Keosauqua Health Center where I?ve been for almost two years,? he said. ?I?ve had excellent care at every hospital I?ve been to. I?ve been up and mobile, trying to walk with artificial legs ? I?m fairly independent.?

Wellborn is happy, and has a new lease on life ? thanks to Harlan. 

?About the only thing I can say is that I?m sure glad that he smelled the smoke and came running,? he said.