Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 2000
These winners were recognized in the April, 2001 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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| Gary Glenn Butner
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Gumtree Fire Rescue Winston Salem, NC | Dennis Dixon
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Boston, MA FD |
John Fidler | Missoula, MT FD |
| Edward G. Brady | Cleveland, OH FD | Patrick Drennan | Jersey City, NJ FD | Mark McDonald | North Charleston, SC FD |
| Peter A. Corso | Cleveland, OH FD | James B. Evans | Columbus, OH FD | Mario Gates | North Charleston, SC FD |
| Patrick D. O'Malley | Cleveland, OH FD | Michael P. Finn | Boston, MA FD | Scott Roland | North Charleston, SC FD |
| Michael Cummings | FDNY | Yuji Hairston | Boston, MA FD | Louis Grabowski | Detroit, MI FD |
| Dennis Gordon | FDNY | Brian Hunt | Anne Arundel County, MD FD | Raymond Garza | Dallas, TX FD |
| David Jernigan | Anne Arundel County, MD FD | John Grimaldi | San Francisco, CA FD |
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On
October 27, 2000 , Volunteer Firefighter Gary Glenn Butner was driving his
son to the local Junior High School. As they neared the school they saw a
large ball of fire going up through the trees ahead of them. Around the
curve he found two cars that had collided head on in the middle of the
curve. One car was fully involved and he could see an individual in the
other car who was not moving. As a Firefighter, Gary knew that he did not
have time to wait for the fire trucks. As he approached the cars, one car
was burning very hot and he could hear someone in that car moaning as it
burned. He knew he would not be able to help the victim in the burning car
but he could save the woman in the other car, which was beginning to burn.
The metal was very hot on the jammed door. He pulled and kicked the door
until it opened. He pulled the unconscious woman out and carried her
across the road to safety. She was removed to the hospital and within a
couple of weeks returned home with head injuries, neck and back pain, and
a few broken bones. The sixteen year old girl in the other vehicle died at
the scene.
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Gary Glenn Butner Gumtree Fire Rescue Winston - Salem, NC $100 Award |
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Edward G. Brady |
Peter A. Corso |
Patrick D. O'Malley |
Cleveland, Ohio FD $100 Award |
| On April 18, 2000, the
Cleveland Fire Dispatch Center received a call indicating that a house was
on fire with people trapped. The information had come from a family member
who, in the excitement, gave an incorrect address. Responding units were
updated with the correct location but radioed that their response would be
delayed. Firefighter Patrick O'Malley of Engine 30 had just finished his
shift, and was about to leave the station. He was listening to the radio
as the units left the station and heard the location update. Realizing
that he could be there in a matter of seconds, O'Malley got in his
personal vehicle and drove to the correct address. He arrived before the
fire units and found a 2½ story frame dwelling heavily involved in fire
on the second floor. Bystanders told him thatthere were people inside.
Without protective clothing or SCBA, O'Malley entered the structure to
search for the victims. Two neighbors had entered the structure to attempt
a rescue, but were turned back by the heavy smoke. O'Malley directed them
out of the house and returned to the second floor hallway, where he found
a 15 year old girl lying on the floor.
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She
was suffering from smoke inhalation and radiant heat from the growing fire
but refused to leave because her 7 year old brother was trapped in a
bedroom. O'Malley took the girl out of the house and assured her that
firefighters would get her brother out safely.
With Fire units now arriving on the scene, O'Malley entered the house for the third time to search for the boy. Smoke and heat made entry into the bedroom impossible, but he stayed in the hallway until other firefighters arrived to point out the exact location of the child. Captain Ed Brady and Firefighter Peter Corso of Ladder 30 entered the house without protection of a hose line, knowing that an off duty firefighter was in the house looking for the second victim. O'Malley directed them to the bedroom where they searched and found the unconscious boy and removed him to safety. Both victims were transported to medical facilities and were treated and released the same day. |
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Michael Cummings $100 Award |
Dennis Gordon $100 Award |
| FDNY |
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At 0813 hours on July 30, 2000 Ladder 120 received an alarm assigned 1st due reporting for a fire in a 16 story housing project. At arrival smoke from the 13th floor was coming from numerous windows. People were hysterically screaming that children were trapped in the fire apartment. Lt. Dennis Gordon, Firefighter Michael Cummings and Firefighter Brian Gallagher boarded the elevator. At the 11th floor they took the stairs to the 13th floor. When Gordon opened the fire apartment door he found the rooms on the immediate right fully involved with fire. Fire was rolling across the ceiling directly overhead. Gordon instructed Gallagher, who is a Probie, to position himself in the apartment entrance doorway and use the can (water fire extinguisher) and that he and Cummings were going down the hallway. They had no hose line. The hallway was cluttered and visibility was non-existent. They crawled down the hallway until they found a bedroom. After Cummings vented a window in this room Battalion Commander Brown, who was in the courtyard, radioed via handi-talkie that he had just seen a hand in a window left of the one that was just vented. Gordon and Cummings quickly went back into the hallway and crawled to the third bedroom, where they heard moans and coughing and found two adults and three young children, huddled together on a mattress under a window. They were trying to breath from the window, but the smoke was too thick. Cummings went to the bedroom door and met thick hot smoke with fire visible down the hallway. He quickly shut the door. There was no way for them to get out with the victims. Gordon radioed Battalion and requested assistance
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They removed their face pieces and raised them overhead with the bypass valves open and started alternating them between all the victims. Two of the three children were not responding and were losing consciousness. The adult male went into a screaming panic and kept grabbing Gordon's face piece as he alternated it between the children. The woman was also on the verge of unconsciousness. Gallagher now radioed to Gordon via handi-talkie that the fire had passed him and now fully engulfed the kitchen and the hallway, blocking any interior escape for the firefighters and victims. Gordon's low air alert went off, followed shortly by Cummings'. Firefighter Davan of L-120 radioed to Lt. Gordon that a Life Saving Rope was set up on the floor above and ready to be deployed to them. Gordon told them to stand by. He radioed to find out about hose line progress and was notified that E-283 had just gotten water. Gordon radioed Davan to wait with the Life Saving Rope in case there were any delays in extinguishing the fire. E-283 knocked down the fire and Gallagher and Firefighter Schneckenburger crawled into the bedroom to assist. The woman was unconscious and he dragged her out. Cummings and Gallagher carried the children out. One of the children was unconscious. Gordon then dragged the man out of the bedroom. The victims were admitted to Brookdale Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. They were discharged the next day. |
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On January 20,
2000, Fire Fighter Dennis Dixon, Ladder Company 19, while on his way to
work at 0655 hours, came upon a building fire at 323 Geneva Avenue,
District 7. He instructed the neighbors to call 9-1-1 and entered the
building, with heavy smoke and fire showing from the first floor. He was
unable to open the apartment door on the first floor and left the
building. After breaking a first floor window to reach the occupants, he
was informed by neighbors that the first floor tenants had left for the
day but the second floor tenants were still in the building. Dixon
reentered the building, broke the second floor apartment door and found
two tenants. He escorted them to the safety of the street. He then
assisted Engine Company 17 to connect their front suction and to advance
their attack line. His actions were performed at great personal risk and
without the benefit of breathing apparatus, adequate ventilation or a
charged line.
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Dennis Dixon Boston, MA FD $100 Award |
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On August 25, 2000,
companies responded to a 2 alarm fire in a 3 story, vacant building. As
fire conditions deteriorated, the incident commander decided to evacuate
the building and to begin a defensive operation. As the evacuation tones
and air horns were sounding, an evacuating firefighter became disoriented
and ran out of air. He stood at a third floor window. The assigned Rapid
Intervention Company was still en-route. The incident Commander informed
Rescue Co. 1 via radio of a member trapped in the third floor front of the
building. Captain James Bastan and Firefighters John Bowen and Patrick
Drennan entered the building to locate the missing firefighter. When they
found him, he had lost his breathing apparatus. Jeopardizing his own life,
Firefighter Drennan shared his mask with the disoriented firefighter as he
was escorted down three flights of stairs.
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Patrick Drennan Jersey City, NJ FD $100 Award |
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Firefighter Evans
responded to a report of a possible "jumper" from a cellular
phone tower. At great risk to himself, he climbed approximately fifty feet
up the tower and began talking to a distraught, suicidal woman. Ladder
company personnel raised a platform near his position and handed him two
ladder belts, one for his own safety and one to secure the victim. Over a
period of two hours the victim would intermittently talk cooperatively to
Evans, and then climb higher. Evans and the victim were at great risk of
being severely burned by microwave transmissions if the victim got to the
top of the 150 foot tall tower, in addition to high voltage cabling. Evans
calmed the woman by talking about such things as both being born in
Germany, until she finally agreed to have the ladder belt secured around
her. At this time a police officer helped him lower her safely onto an
aerial platform and to the ground. Firefighter Evans exhibited not only
courage, but compassion and ingenuity in the successful conclusion of this
incident.
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James B. Evans Columbus, OH FD $100 Award |
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Michael P. Finn $100 Award |
Yuji Hairston $100 Award |
| Boston, MA FD |
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On September 25, 2000, at 1027 hours, Box 5173 was struck for a building fire at 14 Melvin Avenue, District 11. Upon arrival of District 11 and Ladder Company 14 (first arriving company). smoke was showing from the first floor of an occupied three story brick building. There were reports of people trapped on the second floor above the fire. Hearing these reports, Lieutenant Michael P. Finn and Firefighter Yuji Hairston of Ladder Company 14 entered the building and met heavy fire and smoke pushing out from the fully involved first floor apartment into the hallway, cutting off access to the stairway leading to the upper floors.
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They crawled to the first floor apartment door and shut it, preventing the fire from extending up the stairway. They then climbed through heavy smoke and heat to the second floor and began a search for victims. They found four people and led them to an outside balcony, where they were removed to the street by Ladder Company 14. This rescue was performed under rapidly deteriorating fire conditions, without the benefit of a charged line and prior to proper ventilation, at great personal risk. |
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Brian Hunt $100 Award |
David Jernigan $100 Award |
| Anne Arundel County, MD FD |
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On September 2, 2000 three companies of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department arrived at the edge of a stream that was in flash flood stage. In the center of the swiftly flowing stream was a 12 year old boy clinging to the branches of a submerged tree. Only his head and shoulders were above water. Firefighters set up recovery teams downstream in case the boy was swept away. Other firefighters secured a rope to a tree on the stream’s bank and floated Firefighters Brian Hunt and David Jernigan to the boy’s side.
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They secured the boy to their bodies. A line was now thrown to the two firefighters from the adjacent shoreline, about 30 feet distant. This line was secured to a tree on the shoreline and to the tree to which the boy had been clinging. The boy was fitted with a personal flotation device and a static line was rigged to pull him and the two firefighters to the shoreline. Once on the shoreline the boy was treated for hypothermia. He quickly recovered and was turned over to his parents with no injuries. |
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Engineer
John Fidler was working at Station 4 on June 19th, 2000. This is a one-man
career station supported by volunteers. At 0850, Station 4 received a 911
page to a reported structure fire with the possibility of an occupant
trapped inside. Fidler drove Engine 4 to the scene. He found a
trailer/mobile home with moderate smoke from the eaves and heavy smoke
from the kitchen window. A neighbor was fighting the fire with a garden
hose, with little success. He told Fidler that he believed the resident
was still inside. Fidler donned his SCBA and entered the structure through
the front door. He encountered heavy smoke and high heat in the trailer.
He met more fire in the kitchen area as he made his way to the victim's
bedroom, where a search proved negative. He proceeded from the master
bedroom towards the kitchen area to search the living room and other
bedroom. As he entered the living room he saw what appeared to be a
person's foot hanging off the couch. He went to the couch and found the
victim underneath a blanket. He dragged her off the couch and out the
front door. Still alone, Fidler provided airway management to the victim
until other crews arrived to take over medical care. The victim was
transported by a Paramedic Ambulance to the hospital and was then flown to
the burn center in Seattle. After several weeks she made a full recovery.
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John Fidler Missoula, MT FD $100 Award |
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Mark Mc Donald $100 Award |
Mario Gates Honorable Mention |
Scott Roland Honorable Mention |
North Charleston, SC FD |
| In the
early hours of August 13, 2000 several companies of the North Charleston
FD responded to a fire in a single family residence. Half of the small
single story house was fully involved. The crew from Engine 7 attacked the
fire, while the crew from Squad 7 began a search for the home’s owner,
who was reported as being inside. Firefighters Mark McDonald and Mario
Gates found an unconscious woman in a bedroom, lifted her from the bed and
dragged her to the hallway. There they were met by Firefighter Scott
Roland of Squad 2, who helped to carry the woman to safety.
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After CPR the victim regained consciousness and was removed to a hospital, where she made a full recovery. Firefighter McDonald told the attack crew that he thought there was another victim in the bedroom. Firefighter Bruce Roland left the hoseline, entered the bedroom, and rescued a large dog from the room. An additional search found an unconscious dog and a cat The two dogs were saved by a veterinarian, but the cat died from its injuries.
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On the morning of
October 22, 1999, at approximately 11:12 am Engine Company 18 responded to
a Box Alarm. Dispatch indicated this was a home for the elderly, and that
people were trapped inside. Upon arrival, firefighters saw heavy smoke and
flames coming from the second floor of the home. Sergeant Leonard and
Sergeant Grabowski entered the home and began a search for victims. As
they entered the second floor, thick, acrid smoke and intense heat
hindered their search. Suddenly, a flashover occurred, trapping Sgt.
Leonard in a ball of fire. With little regard for his own safety, and
enduring burns to his own body, Sgt. Grabowski pulled Sgt. Leonard to the
stairs and out of the building.
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Louis Grabowski Detroit, MI FD $100 Award |
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As
Raymond and his family were returning to their home on a Saturday morning,
they arrived on the scene of a major accident involving a semi
tractor-trailer, an extended cab pickup and a car. All vehicles were on
fire and several rescue attempts had already been tried. Firefighter Garza
approached the pickup and found two occupants in a state of shock. He
removed the rear side glass of the truck, reached into the passenger side
and cut the seatbelt loose from a woman inside. He then reached through
and opened the door. He pulled the woman from the truck and carried her
down an embankment to a safe area. He then went back to the pickup, where
the fire had reached the rear seat. A dazed man was sitting in the
driver's seat .Garza entered the truck, wrestled the victim to the
passenger side, removed him from the vehicle, and moved him to his wife.
He then checked the other vehicles for occupants, but the fires had
intensified to the point were a rescue in these vehicles was impossible.
Returning to the people rescued earlier, he stayed with them until they were taken to the hospital. In making these rescues, Firefighter Garza sustained numerous first and second degree burns. |
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Raymond Garza Dallas, TX FD $100 Award |
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On February 14,
2000, Paramedic Grimaldi responded to an incident where a vehicle had
plunged into Lake Merced with the driver trapped inside. The vehicle had
rolled down an embankment into the lake, about twenty feet from shore, in
cold, murky, reed filled water. Only the car’s trunk was visible. Withou
any special equipment, Grimaldi made repeated dives. Eventually he broke
the rear window, entered from that point, and freed an unconscious woman
from the submerged vehicle. Upon extrication, the victim was unresponsive.
However a pulse was regained through advanced life support prior to
transport. Unfortunately the woman died of her injuries.
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John Grimaldi San Francisco, CA FD $100 Award |
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