Ryan Pasborg was driving to work when he smelled smoke.
It was a February night in 2022 near Green River, Wyoming. Pasborg, a 33-year-old oil field derrickhand, saw flames coming from the front window of a split-level house.
He stopped.
Three children had already escaped. They told him their 4-year-old brother and their 34-year-old mother were still inside.
The fire had started in a bedroom adjoining the kitchen. Smoke was spreading through the house, and smoke detectors were sounding. The boy and his mother were lying on the kitchen floor.
Pasborg entered through an exterior garage door and climbed the steps toward the kitchen.
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The smoke became too intense for him to remain upright. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled forward.
After moving about three feet into the kitchen, he found the boy.
Pasborg wrapped his right arm around the child. He could not simply stand and walk out because the smoke was too thick. He crawled backward until he reached a place where he could get to his feet.
Then he carried the boy through the garage and outside.
One person was out.
The mother was still inside.
Pasborg directed the children to take shelter in his work truck. That moved them away from the house and gave them a place to wait while he dealt with the remaining problem.
Then he returned through the garage door.
The second entry meant going back into the heat and smoke that had already forced him to the floor. Pasborg again dropped to his hands and knees and crawled toward the kitchen.
He found the mother.
She was unconscious and could not help him move her. Pasborg grasped her beneath the arms and began dragging her backward through the kitchen.
He pulled her down the steps and through the garage door until they were outside.
The house sat at the end of a long driveway. First responders had not yet reached the family.
Pasborg began performing CPR.
He then placed the mother and children in his truck and drove them to the emergency crews gathering at the end of the driveway.
The boy suffered burns to his arms and legs. He recovered.
His mother suffered burns over more than 60 percent of her body. She also recovered.
Pasborg inhaled smoke but did not require medical treatment.
The rescue unfolded as a series of separate decisions.
Stop the truck.
Listen to the children.
Enter through the garage.
Crawl beneath the smoke.
Carry the boy out.
Go back.
The second entry is where the situation changed. Pasborg had already found one child and brought him outside. He knew how severe the smoke and heat were because he had just crawled through them.
He returned with that knowledge.
There was no guarantee that he would find the mother quickly or that he could move her alone. Once he located her, he still had to drag an unconscious adult through the kitchen, down the steps, and out through the garage.
Then he had to begin the next part of the rescue.
He performed CPR and moved the family to the responders who could continue their treatment.
Pasborg did not solve the entire emergency inside the house. He solved each immediate problem in the order it appeared.
Find the boy.
Find the mother.
Get them outside.
Keep them alive until help takes over.
What He Did And Why It Is Worth Noticing
Ryan Pasborg saw a burning home, entered through the garage, crawled through intense smoke, found a 4-year-old boy, and carried him outside.
Then he went back inside.
He crawled through the kitchen again, found the boy’s unconscious mother, dragged her through the house and garage, performed CPR, and drove the family to first responders at the end of the driveway.
That is what he did.
It is worth noticing because Pasborg understood the danger before making the second entry. The first trip had already shown him how little visibility remained and how quickly the smoke forced him to the floor.
He went back because one person was still inside.
A boy was carried out. His mother remained in the kitchen. Pasborg returned, found her, and pulled her through the same smoke that had nearly stopped him the first time.
That changed what happened next.
After carrying one child out of a burning house, would you go back inside knowing another person was still there?