BAZETTA - About 2 a.m. Wednesday, Bazetta firefighter/emergency medical technician Mike Mannella was just sitting down in a recliner to relax when he got the call.
A couple on Eagles Loft said a baby was on the way - a report that's often a false alarm, especially when it comes to young parents, Mannella said.
But he and fellow firefighter/EMT Mike Smith hopped into the ambulance and arrived at the home of Amy and Mike Dobransky at 2:09 a.m.
One minute later, they delivered a healthy baby girl.
"The first thing I think in my mind is it's nothing ... but we were driving over and I looked at my partner and said, 'I'm delivering a baby tonight,'" Mannella said. "They called again and said it was crowning. He said, 'You're going to get your wish.'"
While the parents didn't want to comment Thursday afternoon, they were at St. Joseph Health Center recovering from the late night.
Acting Fire Chief Dennis Lewis said child deliveries are a rare thing for fire departments. The last for Bazetta was in 1995.
Smith has been a firefighter for 25 years and it was his first birth. Mannella, who has two kids of his own, has delivered before but not for years.
When the two arrived at the Dobransky's home, the couple was in an upstairs bedroom. Smith ran to the ambulance to get delivery equipment and Mike Dobransky was pacing the room. Amy Dobransky told them she'd just been to the doctor and wasn't expecting to give birth so quickly. One push was all it took.
"The baby started crying immediately and pinked up right away," Mannella said. It just happened kind of quit. She was happy, the father couldn't believe it."
Smith and Mannella will be given an award and certificate from the department, along with stork pins for their work.
"It's a tradition when you deliver a baby in the fire service, you get a pink or blue stork," Lewis said.
Sometime in February, he hopes to arrange a meeting with the Dobranskys and their new daughter to present her a fireman guardian angel pin, he said.
For Smith and Mannella, the call was a nice change from most that involve sickness and accidents.
"I thought to myself, 'This is a happy time in my career,'" Mannella said. "It makes me feel it's worth it to be a medic. It's funny how with my job I can walk in with a Bazetta uniform and people trust me with their lives."
Smith said, "It's nice to have a happy blessing moment in the ambulance because sometimes it doesn't go so well. It was a nice change. It was my first time delivering in 25 years. I just called it lucky."
