A volunteer firefighter using his own helicopter to help save victims of Hurricane Helene was threatened with arrest while helping an elderly couple.
Jordan Seidhom, a former police officer and volunteer firefighter, has been using his personal helicopter to reach those left isolated from rescue teams after the devastating storm.
But while he was in the middle of rescuing an elderly couple in Lake Lure, North Carolina, on Sunday, a top official with the local fire department told him he would be arrested for doing so.
Seidhom shot down his two-seater plane in a car park after rescuing Susan Coffey from her home, while leaving her own son Landon with her husband Michael at their secluded property.
The plan was for Seidhom to return Susan to safety, before returning for Landon and Michael on three separate trips, before the fire officer threatened to arrest him, he claimed.
Jordan Seidhom, a former police officer and volunteer firefighter, has been using his personal helicopter to reach those left isolated from rescue teams after the devastating storm.
Seidhom had rescued an elderly woman, seen here, and had planned to return her to safety before making the return journey for her husband, as he could only move one person at a time.
talking to WJZY, Seidhom He said he landed in the parking lot after seeing a group of first responders.
When he landed, he said he was confronted by a fire chief who scolded Seidhom for not coordinating with locally organized rescue efforts.
The plan had been for Seidhom to return Susan to safety, before returning for Landon and Michael. Michael and Susan are seen here.
He said: ‘In the middle of all the conversation, I was greeted by the Lake Lure fire chief, or maybe the deputy chief. And he closed the whole operation.
Seidhom said the official told him “if you have that kind of experience, you should coordinate with us.”
As he tried to explain that he had been coordinating with law enforcement and rescue teams, he asked how he could stay in contact with the local Fire Department.
Seidhom confirmed the identity of the lead firefighter to WJZY but did not name him. DailyMail.com is working to verify the man’s name.
Seidhom was then ordered to leave and not return, before explaining that he had to fly back over a section of land to retrieve his son and Michael, and that his helicopter could only accommodate one other person at a time.
He continued: ‘He told me that he was not going to go back up the mountain to look for them, that he was going to leave them there.’
When he pressed the man to explain why he shouldn’t pick them up again, he was told “you’re interfering with my operation.”
The man then told Seidhom: ‘If you turn around and go back up the mountain, you will be arrested.’ I told him: ‘Well sir, I’m going back to look for my co-pilot (your son), I don’t know what to tell him.’
Seidhom said the fire officer then called two other law enforcement officers who threatened to arrest him if he returned to pick them up.
Seen here is Seidhom’s helicopter that he has been using for rescues.
Before Sunday’s events, Seidhom and his son Landon had managed to save two flood victims who were staying at an Airbnb.
After explaining his situation again, one of the officers told him that he “didn’t know what to do” in case Seidhom defied the warning and continued flying.
He added: “So at that point, I felt like the other person was going to pressure him to arrest me when he returned to the victim and then my son would have been left on the side of a mountain with this person to leave.” and rescue him.’
The fire official told Seidhom to return to a nearby county airport and wait for the Federal Aviation Administration to meet with him.
Reluctantly, Seidhom returned to his helicopter, picked up his son, and told Michael he couldn’t help him for fear of being arrested.
The firefighters had told him they could rescue Michael in a few hours, while for him it was only a three-minute flight.
Seidhom and his son then returned to the Rutherford County Airport, where they waited at the FAA for three hours.
Seidhom said: ‘I left Rutherford airport. I knew at that moment that he had no jurisdiction.
‘He was legal in what he did and followed all FAA guidelines and airspace guidelines. It was on private property.
In this drone image, a marina is drowned by debris after Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Lake Lure.
Thirty minutes after the arrest threat, a temporary flight restriction order was also implemented over Lake Lure, right where he and the official were facing each other.
He believes the decision to eject him and other pilots from the rescue zone put people’s lives at risk.
‘There were other victims; As we were leaving the area, we saw within 300, 400 yards inside their location that they simply couldn’t access and that they were calling for help as my son and I were leaving.
‘I can only imagine what people were thinking. You’ve been stranded for 24, 36 hours.
‘There’s no way to talk to anyone, you don’t know what’s going on and you see a life preserver fly away and they keep going. “I can only imagine what they were thinking.”
“I’m sorry, if I had it to do over again, I would have stopped and rescued as many people as I could until they decided they were going to arrest me.”
Before Sunday’s events, Seidhom and his son Landon had managed to save two flood victims who were staying at an Airbnb.
In a social media post, Michael Coffey later said he had to swim across a river to safety, but he and his wife are now safe, as is their cat Cleo.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Lake Lure Fire Department for comment.
