By The Survivors Club Staff
February 19, 2010

Robin Dehaven was driving to work on Thursday morning when he witnessed the plane piloted by Joseph Andrew Stack slam into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, setting it on fire in an apparent act of suicide.

A former military man who served in Iraq twice, Dehaven told CNN he immediately drove towards the burning building, where trapped people were screaming for help. With the help of other witnesses, he took a ladder off his truck and put it up to a window of a smoke-filled area, allowing five people to escape.

He told the news provider that upon seeing the flames, "my first thought [was] maybe I can help, because I'm more used to dealing with traumatic situations like that."

"I have a clear head and a calm head to try to help those people, and luckily I did," he added.

Thursday's incident where a man intentionally flew a plane into a building was the first such attack since September 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists destroyed New York's Twin Towers killing nearly 3,000 people.

The Office of Emergency Management says that during a fire emergency, it is important to crawl low in smoke-filled rooms towards the nearest exit covering the mouth with a cloth, and once outside to never go back. Moreover, tall buildings should be evacuated via stairs not elevators, which can act as chimneys during a fire.

When smoke is spotted, it is crucial to leave the property first and then dial 911 as most people die from smoke inhalation and not from flames.

Fire survivors and their loved ones may turn to the Trauma Resource Institute for help with overcoming the adversity in order to thrive again.