A Humble And Brave Bismarck Hero – Thank You
His name is Brandon Hass, he is as brave and humble a person as you will ever meet
I've never met this man, but I can tell you this for sure, he is the kind of guy who will do anything he can ( whether he is on duty or not ) ...and that is exactly what happened on an early morning in June of last year.
Off duty and running towards an SUV that is on fire
Last year in June, just before 8:30 in the morning, two cars struck each other head-on - a violent crash over on Centennial Road near the intersection of Knudsen Ave. When you have been a firefighter for over 20 years, your only instincts are what you were trained to do, to save lives - even when you are in street clothes. With two people inside a vehicle that was on fire, Brandon risked his safety and reacted swiftly, pulling both of them out of the vehicle.
A second car with some serious injuries was Brandon's next goal
According to kfyrtv.com "A 32-year-old man, who was the driver of the car, and a seven-year-old passenger were transported to a hospital for serious injuries" - Brandon helped the older man who was in shock. The end result was that four people could have easily died had Brandon not been "in the right place at the right time"
A modest individual tries to shrug off an award
"i'm extremely proud of him - he shrugs it off like it's no big deal" Kristi ( Brandon's wife ) relayed to me on the phone this afternoon. "One of the higher-ups from the Highway Patrol had an award for him last August, Brandon tried to politely step aside without accepting it, they wound up calling him on the phone and telling him that the award is extremely rare, they just don't give this to everybody"
AUGUST 7, 2023
Here are some words from a hero...
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*** Kristi posted an emotional, beautiful tribute to him on her Facebook this afternoon:
"Last night we got to witness Brandon receive the Bismarck Rural Fire Department 2023 Bravery Award for his off-duty role assisting four accident victims back in June 2023. Last summer he received the highest honor NDHP awards to citizen for the same accident. Well deserved by him but again this really makes me believe in right place, right time! All those years of hard work and training shining while he was off-duty"
These pics are from last night -
Kristi Hass, Brandon Hass, Jarrett Brown, Wyatt Hass
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A full-time Firefighter - City Of Bismarck - over 24 years / Bismarck Rural Fire Department - 14 years on-call volunteer
I'm going to close with this, thank you to Kristi. She was a huge help in letting her husband know just how important it is that all of Bismarck/Mandan....even the whole State know what a real-life hero he is. I got the go-ahead to call him on the phone, and sure enough, he still wanted me to know that he was "...simply doing a job he was trained to do" - Well Brandon, NOW I'm doing mine. Thank you from my heart and so many others for putting your life in jeopardy, along with all of the others that you work with. I hope to meet and shake your hand one day.
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Gallery Credit: Stacker