ELDER WISDOM
“You have
to learn to
be patient
if you’re
going to
plant seeds
and wait
for them to
grow.”
THE COOL OPERATOR
John Freutel
A young hotshot might
have tried to microman-age everything. But when
Minneapolis assistant fire
chief John Freutel sped
to the collapsed highway
bridge over the Mississippi
River on August 1, 2007,
he patiently ran down a
mental checklist of people
to call, then stood back
and let them do their jobs.
He alerted paramedics and
rescue teams. He got hold
of hazmat experts to deal
with any dangerous chemicals that might have spilled
into the river. He notified
divers and even asked the
Army Corps of Engineers to
close a dam upriver, thus
lowering the water level.
Thirteen people died, but
without Freutel’s calm, the
number could have been
much higher. “There isn’t
a manual on how to deal
with a bridge collapse,”
says Freutel, 56. “ I was
juggling 10 million things,
but 30 years of experience helped me stay calm.
When you’re in command,
I’ve learned, the most
important lesson is: take
a deep breath.” ;;
