Officer: ‘I jumped in to try to help’

Alfrey and a group of firefighters also on the scene knew they had to get Lakes out — fast.

“I went to block off the street. I was gone maybe three to four minutes,” said Alfrey, the first emergency responder to talk about the fatal accident since it happened two weeks ago. “When I came back, they (the firefighters) were pulling on a rope. I thought they were pulling up Mr. Lakes. I jumped in to try to help.”

At the mouth of the hole was Alfrey’s friend, Middletown Fire Marshal Bob Hess. He was on his stomach, pulling.

“I still thought he had Mr. Lakes,” Alfrey said.

As Hess slid further into the manhole, Alfrey said he grabbed his friend’s belt and “held on as tight as I could.”

The officer’s grip was strong, but Hess was starting to slide out of his pants.

“I thought he was going to come out of those pants. I shook him and said, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Alfrey said. “I saw his left arm go limp.”

After hearing some gasping, Alfrey yanked Hess from the hole.

“I still didn’t know he had Todd (Wissemeier),” Alfrey said, referring to the fire captain who had gone down into the manhole to rescue Lakes. But Wissemeier was overcome by nitrogen fumes.

A flurry of activity ensued as other firefighters working to get everyone to safety. Alfrey dragged Hess from the manhole then ran to an ambulance to help get medical equipment.

“I was bawling the whole time. We still didn’t know about the gas,” Alfrey said. “I thought I had killed Bob because I was holding on so tight. I kept saying, ‘I was just trying to help.’ ”

Others would soon assure Alfrey that he hadn’t hurt Hess, but had, in fact, saved his life. They now know a nitrogen gas leak from Air Products caused Lakes’ death and injured Wissemeier, Hess and Firefighter Tom Allen.

Alfrey, a 17-year veteran of the force, said he and Hess have been friends for years and has visited him during his recovery.

“We know we are brothers for life now,” Alfrey said. The officer said he did what he had to do in an emergency situation.

“Yes it can be dangerous,” he said of policing and firefighting. “But helping people is what you signed on to do.”

Alfrey, 40, comes from a family of police officers.

His father, Terry, was the last Middletown police officer shot in the line of duty. He survived a chest wound in 1971. Alfrey’s wife, Christa, is a former Hamilton police officer.