DUMFRIES — Stafford County’s newest resident was born on the floor of a fire station in Dumfries.
Kasey Lynnett Smith, 28, went into labor on Thursday, April 18. She was in a car with her mother, who was driving her to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge to deliver the child. Senatra, she said, is “where my doctors are.”
But traffic on Interstate 95 north was moving at its usual slow pace, and she and her mother began to panic. They called 911 and tried to get a police escort, said Smith, but an operator told her it would be best to get to the nearest fire station.
That station was Dumfries-Triangle Volunteer Fire Department Station 3 on Route 1, near Quantico Marine Corps Base’s front gate. Her mother parked the car and both went inside, and within five minutes the child was born.
“It was definitely a scary situation and an experience I’ll never forget. I was panicking a little bit because I didn’t know if they had everything that would be needed to get her [child] out in case of an emergency and if the ambulance would arrive in time. I was in so much pain from the contractions and pushing I didn’t realize how cold and hard the floor was until she was completely out,” said Smith.
At 9:50 p.m., Journee Janette was born, and the baby is doing great, says her mom.
Smith praised the fire and rescue crews on duty that night.
“Everyone was extremely professional from the time we pulled up to the station. No one showed fear or worry. Everyone went into action immediately,” she said.
This is the second child for Smith, who also has a 16-month-old girl at her home in Stafford, where she’s lived for 14 years.
Little Journee, apparently, didn’t want to wait. Smith had a cesarean section operation scheduled at 7:30 the following morning at Sentara in Woodbridge.
Smith says she’s planning on visiting the fire station on Wednesday to bring coffee and doughnuts as a way to say thank you.
