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Elder Joe Bolke, from Cottonwood Heights, is a University of Utah student serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fenton, MI. But what he's known best for now is his role in an apartment fire rescue.
In the early morning hours of Friday, Feb. 13, Elder Bolke's companion woke him to show him the flames. The missionaries dashed outside without their shoes into the cold Michigan night and started yelling to get others awake.
Their quick thinking helped save lives at the apartment complex, including a mother and her 7-week-old baby who had to be lifted from a second-floor balcony.
As they worked, the building's vinyl siding dripped melting plastic down.
His father says Elder Bolke's not the type to brag about his role in the rescues.
Evert Bolke says his son, Joe, is an Eagle Scout who was always a good kid. "I never had to worry about him getting into trouble," he remembered.
Joe graduated from Brighton High School and plans to return to the University of Utah to study chemical engineering after his mission wraps up in June.
Evert found out about the fire in a phone call with very little details, around 7:30 the morning of the fire. His stake president called, telling Bolke, "Your son, Elder Bolke and his companion have been involved in an apartment house fire. They're OK."
But what the stake president didn't say was that Elder Bolke and his companion were already being hailed as heroes. Evert found that out after he started searching for more information about the fire on the Internet.
He says he's proud of all of his seven children, including his youngest, who lost everything he had in Michigan in the fire. "All they had was their nightclothes and their cell phones," he said.
The Bolkes packaged up a box of things their son couldn't get in Michigan, but it sounds as though the missionaries are getting plenty of help from the community and the relief society in the town where they are serving.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
