5:30 PM, February 22, 2008

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Twenty minutes had passed since Heyburn resident Ike Lynch had fallen through the ice while trying to rescue his dog, Ben, from the freezing waters of the Snake River. The Heyburn Fire Department — including Farm  Bureau Insurance agent and Heyburn firefighter Travis Terry — responded to the call and rushed to Lynch’s location. The firefighters heard that a Search and Rescue team was on its way with a boat, but there was no way to know if it would arrive in time to save Lynch. The Heyburn Fire Department’s Battalion Chief, Dirk Despain, also knew that a full-body icy soak longer than 15 minutes could cause hypothermia and even death.

 

As the firefighters assessed the situation, they knew they had to act fast. They could hear Ben yelping in the cold water as he and Lynch drifted further apart. Five-foot-7-inch, 140 pound Travis stepped forward. “I’m the smallest one here,” he said. “I’ll go out.” The other firefighters agreed. Travis placed an emergency rescue backboard on the ice to distribute his weight, put his hands on the board, and inched his way on his knees towards Lynch.

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Travis never planned on being a firefighter or an insurance agent, but the people who knew him liked what they saw and recognized his potential.

 

He was selling furniture at Lee’s Outlet in Burley when he met Farm Bureau Insurance agency manager Monte Watson. Monte had purchased quite a few pieces of furniture from Travis, and one day Monte told Travis he wanted to talk. They took a seat on a sales floor sofa, and Monte asked Travis if he’d be interesting in becoming a Farm Bureau Insurance agent.

 

After another meeting at Monte’s office, Travis decided to give it a try and began studying. “If you ever need to get some good sleep,” Travis says, “read those insurance study books.” With the help of  his wife, Becky, Travis stayed awake, passed his tests, and became an agent on October 1, 2005.

 

Travis joined the Heyburn fire department after a similar series of events. He was having lunch at Burgers Etc. in Burley, when a friend approached him and encouraged him to apply for a firefighter position. A few years earlier, another friend had asked Travis to apply, but he had been too busy at the time. But things were different this time.

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The 9-11 terrorist attack had happened, America was at war, and Travis wanted to do something to help his country. He said he needed some time to think about the job. Meanwhile, a second firefighter friend encouraged Travis to apply. After a third firefighter, Despain, told Travis to apply for the job, he did. He received a call from the fire department after his interview in January, 2002. They had some bad news for Travis. He was hired.

 

5:45 PM

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As Travis crept across the ice to within 15 feet of Lynch, a fellow firefighter called out from behind him, “Don’t worry Trav, if the ice breaks, I’ll pull you in so fast you won’t even get wet.” The firefighter had found two ropes and threw them to Travis. He tied one to his waist and the other to the backboard. Now, with these lifelines secured, Travis shoved the board across the ice towards Lynch. It stopped about two feet short. A second attempt stopped one foot short. Travis could hear people shouting from the bank telling him not to go any closer…

 

For Travis, being a firefighter has had its ups and downs. The hardest part, he says, has been responding to car accidents where children have been killed. One call on a Christmas Eve day impacted Travis especially hard.

 

He and his family were returning home from a family Christmas party when his pager went off. An SUV had rolled on the interstate. Travis arrived at the scene to find the family’s personal belongings scattered across the highway. Two children who were ejected were being loaded into an ambulance. Travis hurried to the vehicle and saw three people wearing seatbelts in the front seat. In back was a car seat covered with a blanket. Travis decided to attend to the car seat first. When he pulled back the blanket he saw a girl of about four years old with head injuries; Travis knew she was gone. He looked up at another firefighter who put his finger to his lips, signaling Travis not to let the mother know her little girl had not survived. “After this call,” Travis says, “I went home and hugged my little kids and cried like a baby.”

 

5:50 PM

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Travis took one more step out onto the ice and tried again to reach Lynch with the backboard. Still too short. A fourth throw finally reached Lynch. He grabbed the backboard and held tight as Travis and the other firefighters pulled him up onto the ice and into shore. Once Lynch was safely in the hands of the ambulance crew, the firefighters turned their attention to Ben.

 

Ben had been clinging to the ice with his front paws, but now Travis could see Ben had lost his purchase on the ice and was slipping below the surface. Again Travis volunteered to go out on the ice. This time he took a boat tube fastened with ropes before heading out across the ice. Travis laid down on the tube when he got close to Ben and reached out for him. He managed to grab a handful of Ben’s hair and lift him up until he could grip his collar. As the other firefighters began pulling Travis and Ben towards shore, Ben’s collar slipped off, the ice broke around them, and Ben disappeared beneath the water.

 

Travis has also responded to house fires where families have lost all of their possessions and car accidents where young mothers were killed. “It opens your eyes,” Travis says. “Being a firefighter has helped me be a better agent. You see how in the blink of an eye peoples’ lives can be changed or taken away. I feel good as an agent when I help people take the right steps to cover themselves.”

 

5:55 PM

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Travis lunged for Ben and grabbed his leg and the back of his neck. He yelled for the other firefighters to pull them in, fast. They did. Once on shore, they loaded the unmoving dog into a pickup waiting to take him to a veterinarian.

 

Travis’ job as an agent and his job as a firefighter have a common denominator he likes: He’s always helping people. “As an agent, it’s rewarding to know your clients are covered if they have an accident,” Travis says. “As a firefighter, it makes me smile when a kid I’ve taught fire safety to in elementary school comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, I know you. You’re a firefighter.’”

 

On the flipside, both of Travis’ jobs also share a common challenge.  “I sometimes feel like I put out more fires as an insurance agent than as a firefighter.”

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The most challenging part of being an agent for Travis is keeping a positive attitude. “There are so many ups and downs. You write some great insurance and then the client will leave. It can drive you crazy.”

 

Travis and his wife Becky— “who is great and helps with everything I do including waking me and helping me get dressed when my fire pager goes off”—have four kids, two boys and two girls. Their oldest daughter, Kaybire is a cheerleader for Burley High School who has visited Taiwan and Poland with her dance team. Their oldest son, Zack, plays baseball, football, and X-Box. “He’s ten times better at baseball than I ever was,” Travis says.   Mason, their youngest son, enjoys riding his dirt bike. “His grandfather says he would take on a mountain lion with a stick.” Sydnie, their youngest daughter, loves to sing, dance, and play with her cousins. She also runs the household and, according to Travis, tells everyone what to do and not do. “I call her beautiful and she loves it.”

 

Travis would later learn that both Lynch and Ben survived their icy ordeal in the Snake River without any permanent injuries. Lynch later thanked Travis and the other firefighters and donated $1,000 to the Heyburn fire department.

 

Travis Terry may never have planned on becoming a firefighter or an insurance agent, but his final thoughts on that day on the Snake River offer a clue as to why both jobs suit him so well. “After it was all done,” Travis says, “ it was a great feeling to be a part of a good group of people who pulled together to help someone in need.”

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