Firefighters arrive in the bottom of the ninth to deliver baby

YAKIMA -- Firefighter Jeff Jones has two new nicknames around the station -- "Uncle" and "Ichiro."

The Yakima city firefighter and acting Lt. Ty Brown arrived just in time Tuesday afternoon to help deliver a baby in the 1500 block of McKinley Avenue.

That explains the "Uncle" moniker, bestowed upon firefighters who deliver babies. Brown and Jones both get that one.

The firefighters arrived about 4:50 p.m. to find a woman on the couch in labor. Within seconds of walking through the door, the woman gave birth. Jones stretched out to literally "catch" the baby before it hit the floor, said Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Melcher.

"He made a great catch," Melcher said. "Those little guys can be pretty slippery. We were calling him Ichiro Jones."

Jones held the baby boy while Brown suctioned its airway. Brown also clamped and snipped the umbilical chord with the help of ambulance personnel, who arrived moments after the delivery.

The woman and the baby were taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital where they appeared to be "doing well," Melcher said.

Brown and Jones are the second pair of Yakima Fire Department honorary "uncles" this year. In June, acting Lt. Pete Duthie and Firefighter Tim Gese delivered a baby girl by flashlight in a North First Street apartment building.

Firefighters carry an OB kit with them, but deliveries are rare for them. Melcher said he has never been involved in one in his 30-plus years with the department.

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