Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 2001
These winners were recognized in the April, 2002 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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Directories for 2001 Winners: Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5
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| Wayne Gayda | Chicago, IL FD | James Finnell | FDNY | Steven Bascelli | FDNY |
| Jeffrey Giordano | FDNY | James Ellson | FDNY | Mark Carron | Hopedale, MA FD |
| Michael Irwin | FDNY | Anthony Lombardo | FDNY | Thomas Kuefner | FDNY |
| Robert Hall | Rochester, NY FD | John Masta | Detroit, MI FD | Philip Ruvolo | FDNY |
| Phillip Morelli | Denver, CO FD | Gregory Mackin | Boston, MA FD | John Alves | Boston, MA FD |
| Jeffrey Byrne | San Francisco, CA FD | Edward Loder | Boston, MA FD |
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On
Christmas Eve, 2000, at 7:26 P.M., units responded to a still alarm. The
first engine reported heavy fire on the second floor of an occupied
three-story dwelling. Lieutenant Wayne Gayda of Truck
32 was informed of multiple occupants trapped on the third floor. Gayda
ordered multiple ground ladders to be raised, then climbed the fire escape
past fire venting from the second floor. Entering a third floor window, he
began a search under deteriorating conditions, found an unconscious
77-year-old woman and carried her down to the first floor. Although low on
air, He once again climbed the fire escape to the third floor and forced
his way into a bedroom. In severely limited visibility he located four
unconscious females, including a 28-day-old infant. Lieutenant Gayda
radioed his findings and carried two of the victims down the hallway to a
front window , handing them to Lieutenant Molinari. Once again he crawled down the hallway as his low-air alarm
began to ring. He relocated the infant and placed his facemask over
her face. Now joined by another firefighter, he pointed out the
last victim to him. All five victims were removed to the hospital.
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Wayne Gayda Chicago, IL FD Truck 32 $3,000 Award |
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On
March 15, 2001, at 2:30 A.M., Ladder 3 responded to a phone alarm for a
fire at 27 East 13th St. Several civilians reported a fire on the second
floor with a woman unaccounted for. The fire had complete possession of
the living room of a large studio apartment. It was rolling over the
ceiling, creating a distinct flashover potential. Because of this the
inside team could only search the front of the apartment. On hearing this,
Firefighter Giordano knew he would have to make an aggressive search from
his vent position outside the fire building. Finding the fire escape drop
ladder to be defective, he used a 20-foot ladder to climb to the apartment's
second floor window to vent it. Entering the building through this window ,
he encountered heavy
heat and smoke. Making a primary search he found a victim wedged between a
bed and a rear wall. By brute strength Firefighter Giordano and
Captain Pat Brown dragged the woman to the fire escape. As Engine 14
opened their hose line, Giordano and Brown dragged
the woman past the engine company. Suffering from second- and third-degree
burns, she was removed to the New York Hospital Burn Unit.
Firefighter Giordano and Captain Brown died in the 9-11 Tragedy at the World Trade Center |
Jeffrey J. Giordano FDNY Manhattan NY Ladder 3 $2,000 Award |
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On
April 18, 2001, Ladder 147 responded to fire in a three-story wood-frame
dwelling. Lieutenant Irwin found occupants fleeing and heavy smoke venting
from the basement apartment. As he and his crew entered the apartment they
met high heat and heavy smoke. Irwin had his can man (carrying a portable
extinguisher) try to control the fire as he entered a bedroom. He found
the lifeless form of an adult on the floor. He swept the floor and found a
child unconscious nearby. Irwin radioed the results of his search, then
picked up the child and crawled back toward the stairs, where he handed
the child to Firefighter Lomask. Irwin then crawled back to the bedroom to
remove the first victim, despite the rapidly spreading fire. He called for
help and two firefighters helped him to carry the victim to the street.
Knowing that the primary search had not been completed, Irwin
re-entered the apartment and continued his search. Exhausted and nearly
out of air, he found a third victim in a narrow kitchen and began to drag
the badly burned man through the apartment, when he received help from two
other firefighters. All three victims were removed to a hospital, and all
three survived the fire.
With its six foot high ceiling, single exit, and sealed basement windows, this illegal apartment was a death trap. Without the efforts of Lieutenant Irwin, who made his rescues without the support of a charged hose line, the three victims would have lost their lives.
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Michael Irwin FDNY Ladder 147 $1,000 Award |
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Units responded on Nov. 26, 2001, to a fire on the eighth floor of a 12-story apartment house. The elevators were not working in the fireman's service mode. Receiving word of someone trapped, Firefighter Hall ran up eight flights of stairs. Arriving on the fire floor, he learned that a woman was trapped. As hose line was being stretched (but not yet in action), Hall entered through the apartment door. Fire was visible and thick, black smoke banking down to the floor. He crawled under and past the fire and began a blind search. He found a 59-year-old woman on the floor, unconscious and barely breathing. Homing on the shouts of firefighters in the hallway, Hall dragged her out, removing his facemask and placing it on the victim's face. She was carried down to the lobby to waiting EMS providers. |
Robert Hall Rochester NY FD Heavy Rescue 11 $2,000 |
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On Jan. 31, 2001, units responded to a fire in a single-family dwelling. The Rescue 11 crew learned that Lieutenant Van Camp had fallen through a hole in the floor and was in the basement. Rescue 11's crew was divided to operate through the front and rear in an attempt to reach the lieutenant. Technician Phillip Morelli found the hole which the firefighter had fallen through. He could hear his voice, PASS device (an emergency sound maker) and low air alarm. Morelli slid down a hose line that went into the basement and reached the firefighter and the hose’s nozzle, which he played on the fire. Technician Hess stayed at the top of the hole while three other firefighters found the interior stairwell into the basement. They removed Lieutenant Van Camp and Firefighter Morelli. to safety. |
Phillip Morelli Denver CO FD Rescue 1 $1,000 Award |
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On April 19, 2001, Rescue 4 responded to a fire in a 2 ½ -story frame dwelling. Two civilians were screaming that their father was trapped inside. It was impossible to enter the front door due to debris. Firefighter Finnell was boosted up into the window from which a man had recently jumped. With heavy smoke and fire rolling overhead, Finnell found an unconscious man and began to drag him back to the window. The heavy fire conditions and large amount of debris made it necessary for Firefighter Gaine to enter the room from the window and assist in the final removal of the victim. As Gaine and Finnell exited the window, the room flashed over. The man survived his injuries. |
James Finnell FDNY Queens, NY Rescue 4 $500 Award |
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On
July 21, 2001, at 6:56 A.M., Tower Ladder 111 responded first due for a
fire on the top floor of a three-story brownstone apartment house. Upon
arrival, two civilians were visible at the top-floor windows with heavy
smoke issuing from these windows. They were threatening to jump. Fire and
smoke had cut off their egress to the public hallway. Ladder 111’s
inside crew was blocked by fire from reaching the third floor.
Firefighter Ellson, Ladder 111 's chauffeur, set up the tower ladder for
the outside vent man. He then took a 20-foot portable ladder to reach the
victims. Because of garbage and debris in the courtyard, he was only able
to position the ladder at an adjacent window. The victims started to climb
out of their window in an attempt to reach the ladder, requiring Ellson to
straddle a six-inch-wide ledge between the two windows. This prevented the
people from jumping. In an extremely dangerous and precarious position,
three stories above the ground with high heat and heavy smoke, Ellson held
the occupants until the tower ladder basket could reach them.
Notified of another victim trapped on the third floor, Ellson entered the third-floor window and began a search in zero visibility with fire rolling overhead before he found a 71-year old man burned over 90% of his body. Unable to reach the victim because of the fire, Ellson went back to the window and grabbed a portable extinguisher from the tower bucket. Playing water from the can, Ellson returned to the man and, with the help of Lieutenant Pandolfi from Engine 222, removed the victim to the tower ladder bucket.
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James Ellson FDNY Brooklyn, NY Tower Ladder 111 $500 Award |
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On
April 10, 2001, Ladder 170 arrived first due at a fire in the basement of
a wood frame private dwelling. There were reports of people trapped in the
basement. No engine was on the scene. The Ladder 170 forcible entry team
crashed through the front door and fought their way through heavy smoke
down the basement stairs. The can man (with a portable extinguisher)
knocked down some of the fire and Firefighter Lombardo and Lieutenant
Croak forced their way into the apartment to begin a search. They heard a
victim screaming from the apartment’s rear. Lombardo crawled under the
flame and smoke, reached the rear kitchen, and found the
trapped woman. He dragged her back through the fire to the entrance.
Lombardo then returned to the burning apartment and searched for the
victim’s children, who were reported to be inside. He found no victims,
since they had already escaped
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Anthony Lombardo FDNY Brooklyn, NY Ladder 170 $500 Award |
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On
July 28, 2001, at 6: 30 A.M., a civilian ran into the quarters of Ladder
22 and informed Firefighter Masta of a house fire. Upon arrival Ladder 22
found an off-duty firefighter, on his way to work, banging on the front
door. He had been told that a victim was inside. Masta pried open the door’s
steel security bars. By brute strength he forced open the front door,
injuring his shoulder. Realizing that he could not wait for an engine crew
with a hose line, he began searching room by room on his hands and knees.
He moved to the rear of the house, which was totally engulfed, and found a victim. Able to use only one arm, he dragged the victim through the house and out to the front porch. |
John Masta Detroit, MI FD Ladder 22 $500 Award |
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On
March 12, 2001, at 2:56 A.M., Engine 16 responded to a building fire.
Heavy fire was extending up the right side wall of an occupied three-story
tenement. Lieutenant Mackin entered the building, found a small boy on the
second-floor stairs and carried him outside. Mackin reentered the building
and found a woman and four children on the second floor, and led them to
safety via the rear stairs. Both of these rescues were performed under
heavy smoke and fire conditions prior to the placement of a charged line
and adequate ventilation.
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Gregory Mackin Boston, MA FD Engine 16 $250 Award |
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On
June 1, 2001, Firefighter Jeffrey Byrne was a temporary chief’s aide
assigned to Division 2, which responded to a fire in a three-story
apartment building. On arrival, they saw two firefighters calling from a
smoke-filled window for a hose line to be brought to them. Byrne and
Firefighter Pratt placed a 22-foot ladder below the window while the two
firefighters prepared to jump just as the room flashed over. They
descended the ladder safely, but told the chief their lieutenant was
missing.
Byrne donned SCBA, took a hose line into the window, and worked to knock down the fire and search for the officer. He later learned that the lieutenant escaped after the flashover occurred.
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Jeffrey Byrne San Francisco, CA FD Division 2 $250 Award |
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On Sept. 11, 2001 at 6:06 P.M., hours after the terrorist attack, Ladder 26 responded to a fire in a 19-story multiple dwelling. Heavy smoke was issuing from three windows on the 15th floor. Residents reported the occupant of the fire apartment was emotionally disturbed and had barricaded himself in the apartment. In dense, heavy smoke, the fire door - glowing red hot - was eventually located. The door was forced using a hydraulic entry tool, but this opened the it only a few inches. Firefighters in the hallway were subjected to intense heat. The occupant had placed furniture behind the door. A maul was used to remove the door from its hinges. Firefighter Bascelli crawled under the fire into a back bedroom and located the unconscious occupant. He remained with the victim, placing his air mask over the victim’s face, as a hose line was opened to extinguish the fire. |
Steven Bascelli FDNY Manhattan, NY Ladder 26 $250 Award |
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On Jan. 15, 2001, a report of a building fire with an occupant trapped was received. Mark Carron, the lone firefighter on duty, responded in an engine and reported a 2 ½ story wood frame dwelling with fire showing from the front door. The occupant's daughter screamed that her mother was trapped on the first floor. Carron struck a second alarm. He broke through the door and crawled down the hallway, knocking down the fire with a portable extinguisher before running out of water. He returned to the truck and got another extinguisher and again tried to reach the occupant, but was again driven back. A mutual aid company from Milford was now on the scene. Returning to his engine, Carron charged a pre-connected hose line, re-entered the house, and knocked down the fire, allowing the Milford crew to rescue the trapped woman. Unfortunately she did not survive. |
Mark Carron Hopedale, MA FD $250 Award |
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On June l, 2001, at 12:50 A.M., Ladder 112 responded to a working fire in a three story frame multiple dwelling. As the forcible entry team was breaking down the door they received an urgent message from the outside vent man that there were two people on the rear fire escape and two people inside the top-floor rear windows. Lieutenant Kuefner decided to rescue the people both from the interior and by sending firefighters down a gooseneck ladder from the building next door. Kuefner found the two people inside the window. Another firefighter blocked the fire so that these people could go down the fire escape. The two people behind them then made their way down the fire escape. As they searched for more victims, the three firefighters found themselves to be trapped by heavy fire extending from the floor below. They breached a wall to reach a third floor window. And a 35-foot ladder was maneuvered into the rear yard with much difficulty to rescue them. |
Thomas Kuefner FDNY Queens, NY Ladder 112 $250 Award |
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Captain Ruvolo of
Rescue 2 was working in Staten Island's Rescue 5 and responded to a working fire signal 10-75 to a fire on the third floor of a three-story
wood-frame Queen Anne-style apartment building. Rescue 5 was ordered to
conduct a primary search on the top floor. Fire was venting out three
windows on the second floor. Forcing entry to the top floor, Ruvolo could
not get up off his hands and knees because of the extreme heat and smoke.
He traveled 15 feet down the hallway to a point where he found an
unconscious 225-pound woman. He dragged her a short distance down the
hallway until he was met by other members of Rescue 5. They removed the
victim to the second floor, where Ladder 78 met them. They had to pass two
hose lines that were stretched and operating into the second floor and
removed the woman to the street. She was hospitalized with smoke
inhalation and thermal burns to the throat.
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Philip Ruvolo FDNY Staten Island, NY Rescue 2 $250 Award |
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John Alves Ladder 1 $250 Award |
Edward Loder Rescue 1 $250 Award |
| Boston, MA FD |
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Ladder 1 responded to a building fire
on April 23, 2001, at 2:38 P.M. Heavy fire and smoke were visible upon
arrival and an elderly victim was trapped inside. Lieutenant Alves,
performing a primary search on the second floor, found the unconscious
woman. He placed his facemask over the victim, providing her with air.
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Firefighter Loder of Rescue 1 heard Alves struggling to remove the woman and went to provide assistance. This rescue was performed under heavy fire and smoke conditions prior to the placement of a charged hose line and before adequate ventilation. |