Robert A. Brown Named July Firefighter of the Month

Mobile, Ala. — The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD) is proud to announce Captain Robert A. Brown as the Firefighter of the Month for July 2024. Brown joined the fire department in December of 2011 and currently serves as Captain of Engine 8 at Melton Station. He is also a Hazmat and Rescue Technician.

With the help of rescue technicians and other firefighters alike, Captain Brown became the center of attention on July 29 as he stepped over the edge of the RSA Battle House Tower with nothing between him and the ground several hundred feet below. Their mission was to rescue a window washer whose equipment malfunctioned and left him hanging in midair, safe and secure, but nonetheless stuck.

The man was washing windows when his descender got stuck. He was unable to make progress downward or upward, so he and a co-worker called 911. Mobile Fire-Rescue Department dispatched several units to the call, including rescue technicians trained in high-angle rescues.

When crews from MFRD set up a rope system on a small roof on the 35th floor, it was Brown who was lowered into position to hook the victim into the rescue line so they could both be pulled back up to safety.

“Once we got up there, we were pretty much in our own world,” Brown said. “Nothing else outside of that particular moment even really existed.”

“You get in that mindset and mentality and mode where it’s time to go to work and you do it.”