ROGERS -- Less than a minute.
That's how long it took Rogers firefighter Al Jones to guide an ambulance off the road and away from a crowded intersection while his coworker was in the driver's seat.
The two paramedics and an EMT student were returning from a medical emergency March 19 when the driver had a seizure that caused her foot to press the accelerator to the floor, speeding them toward the intersection of North 24th and West Walnut streets.
"Facing an intersection full of innocent citizens, Jones steered the ambulance away from traffic and ditched it in an abandoned gas station," said Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins. "Doing so risked Al's life."
The ambulance crashed into an awning column that came within inches of injuring Jones.
His actions earned Jones the Valor Award, the highest honor given by the Rogers Fire Department. About 20 of his colleagues and several other friends and family gathered at Tuesday's City Council meeting to watch him receive the award.
At the meeting, Jones deflected the praise and said he didn't expect the award or the turnout of friends and family.
"I was nervous," Jones said, during the event. "But I just thought 'We can't go out into Walnut Street.'"
It's the first time the Valor Award has been presented since the beginning of the award program in 2008. The award can be offered posthumously to an emergency worker killed in the line of duty or in the event of risking his own life to save someone else's.
"We in the Fire Department risk our lives all the time, there's a baseline of risk that we accept," Jenkins said. "It's a high threshold to go 'Wow, that guy really risked his life.' And he did so in a quick manner."
Jenkins played the dashboard camera video from the incident so the audience could see just how quickly Jones made his decision to put others' safety above his own. The video was 30 seconds from the seizure to the crash and shows the roughly 18 vehicles it bypassed.
"Looking back, it was a split-second decision and the outcome would have been much worse had he not done what he did," said Battalion Chief Cliff Thompson. "We had some injuries from the crash, but it was isolated to our crew and didn't affect the public, which could have been really bad."
Mayor Greg Hines congratulated Jones. Following the meeting, he pointed out ambulance vehicle consoles are large, difficult to climb over and steering one in that position was a challenge.
"There's no question that someone would have been seriously injured without Jones' intervention," Hines said.
"Jones had the wherewithal and the criticality to make those decisions," Jenkins said. "Without his quick thinking and bravery, someone else would have gotten hurt."
Jones was presented with the first Valor Award plaque and his name will appear on another plaque reserved for the Wall of Honor at the Rogers Fire Station No. 1 at 301 N. First St. The firefighters Jones works with said he's well deserving of recognition and not just for this recent act of bravery.
"Al's such a steady performer and a member of our honor guard, an elite group," Jenkins said.
"He's one of the best workers we have, always has a good, positive attitude and is willing to do anything assigned to him," Thompson said. "He has a quiet, humble spirit and is not looking for any attention."
NW News on 07/01/2016