<<Back
Honey Dew Donuts® in the news
A 'regular guy' wins praise, coffee for extraordinary acts
Chris Barrett
February 23, 2006
Cranston resident Jay Johansen never has to worry about buying coffee again. For his heroic action of running into a burning building and saving lives, Honey Dew Donuts is giving him a free medium coffee and doughnut every day for the rest of his life.
At a ceremony Thursday, Honey Dew Donuts founder and president Dick Bowen presented Johansen, 36, with the franchiseÕs second annual Dew Good Award at the Honey Dew shop on Reservoir Avenue.
"We scan the news all the time to see if someone stands out in the community and Jay Johansen totally personifies this award," Bowen said.
At 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, Johansen was returning from dropping off a friend when he saw flames shooting out of a house at 168 Richard St. in Cranston. Fire officials later determined that defective Christmas tree lights set the tree on fire.
"I stopped, obviously, and there was no one around," Johansen told the Herald later that day. "Usually any fire IÕve seen thereÕs someone standing around or yelling."
Johansen, a guard at the Adult Correction Institutions, dialed 911 from his cell phone and then rushed down the driveway to the back of the house where he found first-floor resident Patricia Paliotti and her son Giovanni, 6, in the fenced-in backyard.
"They had just come out the back door and they didnÕt want to come by the side because flames were coming out the window so I helped them," Johansen said. "She told me somebody was upstairs on the second and third floors also which really scared me because I didnÕt know they were even from the first floor."
Nevertheless, Johansen ran into the burning house where he said he checked the basement for occupants before hearing a female above him. He climbed the stairs to the second-floor landing.
"She didnÕt know if it was safe to come out that way; she wanted to go out another way," Johansen recalled. "She said she couldnÕt walk, she couldnÕt breathe, so I tried to get [as] close as I could but I couldnÕt see anything, so I put my hand outÉI grabbed her by the jacket so she knew someone was there, so she put her hand around my neck and we went down the stairs."
All the while, Johansen remained on the phone with 911 operators, a tape of which was played at ThursdayÕs ceremony.
"Get out of the house! Get out of the house!" Johansen is heard shouting as the operator tells him firefighters are on the way and a woman screams in the background.
JohansenÕs mother said hearing the tape made her realize the seriousness of the fire.
"Listening to the tape as a mother is pretty scary," she said. "When you hear him, you think how fortunate he was."
Johansen didnÕt characterize the fire as major, though, when he called his parents from Rhode Island Hospital and told them he helped some people and rode along with emergency personnel.
In reality, Johansen had been taken to the hospital with five residents for treatment of smoke inhalation.
"I donÕt think thereÕre any false heroics to this fire," said Acting Fire Chief James Gumbley. "I think he encountered heavy black smoke and he had to go through that and stay low."
Johansen also received recognition from Mayor Stephen Laffey, who sent Deputy Director of Administration Robin Muksian-Schutt to present an official letter of commendation.
Johansen also had an opportunity to chat with other city officials, including police Chief Col. Stephen McGrath and firefighters, who all praised him.
"ItÕs a dangerous thing to do but it was a heroic thing to do," said Lt. Frank Ennis.
Johansen, who downplayed his actions at the ceremony, said he thought his co-workers were pulling a joke when he kept receiving calls at the ACI from doughnut people.
After two weeks of fruitless phone calls, Honey Dew managers sent Johansen a letter offering him the award.
"They asked if I was interested and I said yes," Johansen said. "I thought it was a good idea because you always hear negative stuff in the news or the papers."
And what kind of coffee is Johansen going to order on his way to work?
"Regular," Johansen said. "IÕm a regular guy. ThatÕs what I tell them at work."
Source: Cranston Herald.
