Off-Duty Tulsa Firefighter Saves Unconscious Man from Burning Building

Black smoke was rising over a Tulsa neighborhood when AJ Morrison, a firefighter with the Tulsa Fire Department, happened to drive past. He was off duty. No gear, no truck — just gym shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes.

He pulled over anyway.

When Morrison arrived, no fire truck was yet on scene. The building was burning, and he had none of the protective equipment he checks methodically before every shift — boots, gloves, air tank, helmet, mask. What he had was his training. He got low to the ground, moved as close to the fire as he could manage, and worked his way back toward the front door. That's where he found the victim: an unconscious man in a wheelchair.

Morrison pulled him out.

He has been careful, in the time since, not to frame what he did as exceptional. "I'm just very blessed and very thankful that I was able to make a difference that day," he said. "I believe I'm serving. I truly have that mentality that I was put on this earth to serve people."

The fact that Morrison lived less than a mile from the burning apartment building — close enough to be passing by at that moment — is something he attributes to more than coincidence. "That's what God put me on this earth to do," he said. "I just try to use my fleshly body as a vessel and carry out his will."

Earlier this year, the Tulsa City Council formally honored Morrison for his quick thinking and selfless actions that day.