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 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
Page 5
| Michael Lohr | Columbus, OH FD | Scott Malone | Boston, MA FD | Ernest Hughes | Prince George's County, MD FD |
| Scott Sanders | Columbus, OH FD | Marvin Massey | Detroit, MI FD | Omari Mitchell | Detroit, MI FD |
| Chad Lowe | Columbus, OH FD | Brian Peace | Detroit, MI FD | Daniel Zeigler | Detroit, MI FD |
| Robert Syx | Columbus, OH FD | Michael McCarthy | Buffalo, NY FD | James Worthy | Detroit, MI FD |
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Michael J. Lohr $100 Award |
Scott R. Sanders $100 Award |
| Engine 10, Columbus, OH FD |
| On January 23, 2001 a woman drove her car onto a frozen pond. It crashed through the ice and began sinking. Three residents from the apartments nearby walked out onto the ice to approach the floating car and rescue the woman, but they broke through the ice and were forced to scramble back to shore. One of these rescuers tied an electrical extension cord around himself and went back out onto the ice and into the water in another rescue attempt. The woman, still sitting in the car, was in distress but managed to keep her head above the water. At this point responding Columbus FD members were on the scene. | Firefighters
Michael J. Lohr and Scott R. Sanders entered the frigid water and rescued
the driver as well as a civilian rescuer, who needed help in getting out
of the water. Despite the depth and temperature of the water both victims
were successfully rescued.
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Chad A. Lowe $100 Award |
Robert E. Syx $100 Award |
| Engine 21, Columbus, OH FD |
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Columbus firefighters Chad Lowe and
Robert Syx responded to a house fire on January 18, 2001 on Medic 21. Medic
21 was met by frantic residents screaming that a 13 year old boy was still
inside. Firefighter William Balthaser learned that the boy was in a second
floor bedroom. He kicked the front door open but the house was entirely
filled with smoke and he lacked his breathing apparatus. At this point Lowe
and Syx arrived at the door, fully equipped but without a hose line. Following Balthaser’s
instructions, they climbed the stairs to the second floor and crawled down a
smoke filled hallway to a bedroom, where they began a search. Syx
found the unconscious child wedged between a bed and a wall. Calling to
Lowe, he began to move the child.
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With Lowe’s
help they carried the child out of the room, down the stairs, and out to
the street. In the course of the rescue Lowe’s face mask was ripped off
and he suffered smoke inhalation. Despite this injury, he continued to
help Syx to remove the child from the house.
The entire rescue was made without the support of a charged hose line, since an engine was not yet on the scene. The entire elapsed time between dispatch and rescue completion was seven minutes.
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On March
9, 2001, at 0152 hours, Box 2384 was struck for a building fire at 19
Kenney Street, District 9. Upon arrival, Ladder Company 10 reported smoke
showing and observed two occupants at a window on the second floor. Their
exit was cut off by fire on the floor below.
Fire Lieutenant Scott J. Malone, Ladder Company 10, climbed a 35 foot ground ladder and removed both victims to the safety of the street. During his descent with the second victim, he saw a hand inside a first floor window waving frantically for help. This victim was trapped by a fast moving fire in the center of this apartment and also by steel security bars in the window. Lieutenant Malone climbed a short extension ladder, removed the outside storm window and the inside window sash, but was confronted by the steel security bars. Fighting the heavy smoke and intense heat, he dislodged the steel bars, reached into the floor level and removed the man to safety. Almost immediately after this rescue, the entire room was involved in fire. These rescues were performed under rapidly deteriorating fire conditions, without the benefit of a charged line and prior to adequate ventilation.
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Scott J. Malone Boston MA FD Ladder 10 $100 Award |
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No Photo |
Marvin Massey $100 Award |
Honorable Mention |
| Engine 40, Detroit, MI FD |
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On March 5, 2001 Trial Fire Fighter
Brian Peace began his first tour of duty in the engine house. At
approximately 1531 hours, Engine Company 40 was dispatched to a Box Alarm at
12082 Cascade.
Upon arrival, Lieutenant Marvin Massey was informed that a civilian was trapped inside. Without the protection of a charged line |
Massey
and Peace entered the first floor of the dwelling to search for the
victim. Through intense heat in zero visibility they searched
room after room until they found the victim, picked him up and removed him
to safety.
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On
January 24th, 2001 a man jumped into the Niagara River. Engine 19
responded. The victim was spotted about 20 yards from shore, floating
face-down in the water. Engine 19 had only one chance to rescue him, and it was
clear that the cold water rescue suits carried by other companies would
not arrive in time. Lieutenant McCarthy decided that because he was the best
swimmer on his crew, he would be the one to enter the water. He shed his
turnout gear and removed a protective brace from his knee, which was
injured. He fastened a utility rope around himself and entered the swiftly
flowing icy river, wearing only a T-shirt and life vest. It appeared that
the victim would float downstream before he could reach him, so McCarthy
made a superhuman effort and grabbed him as the utility rope being played
out from shore was almost played out. The crew of Engine 19 pulled him and the
victim to shore, with McCarthy holding onto the rescue rope with one hand,
and the victim with the other. They were hit by ice floes as they were
pulled back to shore. He was so numb that he could not move his hands and
could barely walk.
A nineteen year veteran of the Buffalo FD, McCarthy made a similar rescue in March of 1993.
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Michael McCarthy Buffalo NY FD Engine 19 $100 Award |
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On
Tuesday, August 21, 2001, Acting Paramedic Ernest D. Hughes responded to a
call for a citizen having a seizure on the ramp of Station 12 in College
Park. Upon arrival, he encountered a 42-year old man, sitting in a
vehicle, suffering from cardiac arrest. Hughes and his crew from
Station 12 extricated the man from the vehicle. Prior to the arrival of
the advanced life support unit, Hughes defibrillated the man and
administered medication while other firefighters performed cardiopulmonary
resuscitation. The patient was subsequently transported to Washington
Adventist Hospital, where he was admitted for further care. He was
released and made a successful recovery.
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Ernest D. Hughes Prince George’s County FD, Largo MD Station 12 Honorable Mention |
| No Photo | No Photo |
Honorable Mention |
Honorable Mention |
| Engine 57, Detroit, MI FD |
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At 3:00 PM on February 8, 2001 Engine
Company 57 was dispatched to a two-story bungalow at 13528 Artesian. As they
arrived they found the second floor to be totally engulfed in flames.
Bystanders told Firefighters Omari Mitchell and Daniel Zeigler that a young
girl was trapped upstairs.
The firefighters judges that there was no time to get a hose into action. They took the extremely risky step of forcing entry into the house without a hose line to rescue the girl immediately. As soon as they crashed through the front door they found two adults and two children and led them to the street.
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Once
again the two firefighters entered the house and climbed the stairs to the
second floor to search for the trapped girl. Crawling through heat, smoke,
and flame, they found her lying on a bed in one of the bedrooms, picked
her up and carried her outside to safety.
Mitchell and Zeigler then brought in a hose line and successfully extinguished the fire. The two firefighters accomplished the entire rescue and extinguishment before the arrival of any other units.
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| No Photo | On
January 4, 2001, Engine Company 37 responded to a box alarm at an
apartment complex located at 1928 Military.
Upon arrival, the crew of Engine 37 noticed that the first floor of the apartment was fully engulfed with fire. A man was screaming for help from a second floor window. Firefighter James Worthy immediately entered the building, without the aid of a charged line, and ran up a set of stairs to the second floor. He crawled through dense smoke and intense heat, found the man, and guided him back down the stairs to safety.
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Detroit MI FD Engine 37
Honorable Mention |
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