Firefighter who drove 16 Ohio kids to hospital shares haunting memory that’s stayed with him

The firefighter who drove the 16 kids who were rescued in Ohio to the hospital has spoken out about what he saw and revealed the haunting memory that has stayed with him.

Authorities found 16 children aged between one and 18 living in “sickening conditions” at a home in Hamden, trapped in a tiny 12-foot room. The children’s parents and two grandparents, Gary Siders Jr, 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, Gary Siders Sr, 73, Christina Siders, 77, have been arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment. They have all pleaded not guilty.

Captain Jeremiah Griffith was one of the first people at the scene. The firefighter for the Hamden Fire Department was asked to drive the Emergency Medical Services vehicle that was transporting the rescued children to the hospital.

Credit: Criminally Obsessed/YouTube

Describing the home to Criminally Obsessed, he said: “You can see the cockroaches and stuff like that, bugs in general. Bugs get on the children and scratch and bite, so their condition wasn’t the greatest. As far as the smell, it’s just a certain type of smell. It’s not very pleasant.

“Typically, I wear a mask if I endure those kind of conditions to kind of helps cover that up because it’s awful. It sticks with you. It sticks on your clothes and you can smell it for hours afterwards until you can go and change,” he continued. “Our livestock around here live in better conditions.”

When he arrived at the scene, Griffith got into the back of a squad car and “there were a load of children in the back that were clearly not in the greatest shape”. He said the most “haunting” memory is how quiet the children were.

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Credit: Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson

“It was just quiet. That’s what it was. Blank expressions. Of course they were scared. They’ve never endured anything like that before. They didn’t know where they were going,” the firefighter recalled. “They didn’t speak to me. I tried to have limited contact unless I was asked to help with the children.”

He quickly put on his lights and sirens and drove them to the hospital for a “quick turnaround,” because they knew they might have to transport more children. When he arrived at the yard, he helped unload the children into the hospital. And that’s the last he saw of them.

“This one just caught us by surprise really, because we didn’t really expect [it]. This house didn’t even look like anyone was living in it,” he said. Vinton County had to contact nearby Jackson County for more squads and first responders because they didn’t have enough resources. “It was a situation we’re not used to dealing with.”

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Featured image credit: Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Criminally Obsessed/YouTube