During the morning hours on Thursday, the Mayflower Fire Department was dispatched to the Saltillo Fire District as automatic aid for a residential structure. Upon arrival, multiple vehicles were discovered in the driveway, but the location of their occupants was unknown. Mayflower firefighters arrived on the scene to aid in the situation. Firefighter Rinquist and Firefighter Riveira from the Saltillo Fire Department were tasked to perform a primary search. The two conducted a VEIS (Vent, Enter, Isolate, Search) of a bedroom that had a survivable space.
During their search, they located no victims, and began to exit the room. Riveira exited the window first, but when Rinquist went to exit the window, the floor beneath him gave away and his leg fell through the floor. He was pinned and unable to move, as his leg was exposed to the flames in the crawl space.
After hearing a call for mayday from Rinquist, Riveira jumped back into the room through the window and freed him. After he was rescued, it was determined that Rinquist had suffered second and third degree burns to his leg. He was transported to a local hospital for evaluation, before being transferred to the burn unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital where he remains in good condition.
