Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 2002
These winners were recognized in the April, 2003 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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| Robert W. Doyle | FDNY | Robert Kilduff | Boston FD | John Banning | Austin TX FD |
| Paul Burley | Morningside MD FD | Kevin A. Deagle | Boston FD | Robert J. Mullins | Lynn MA FD |
| John Lyon | Morningside MD FD | David M. Dowd | Boston FD | Bruce Hornecker | Millburn NJ FD |
| James Marketti | FDNY | Christopher Kennedy | Cincinnati FD | Michael Boub | Loudon County VA FD |
| Kevin M. Fitzhenry | Bayonne NJ FD | William Maynor | Cincinnati FD | Christopher Gay | Loudon County VA FD |
| William B. O'Sullivan | Boston FD | Dennis Tong | San Diego FD | Stephe P. Fenley | FDNY |
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On March 9, 2002, Firefighter Doyle was on his way home after completing a 24-hour tour at Ladder 174. Doyle was stopped at a traffic light when he noticed smoke coming from the top floor of a house one block away. Heavy fire was coming from a second-floor window and he could hear a woman screaming for help. He couldn't see the third floor until the wind shifted and he caught a glimpse of a child's arm in a third-floor window. Doyle instructed neighbors to call 911, then he ran up the stoop and tried the front door, but it was locked. Flames pushed out the second-floor window as he urgently scaled the support column of an awning. He climbed to the third floor as the windows continued to break below him due to venting fire. Blinded by thick smoke and enduring extremely high heat, he entered the third-floor window and searched for the girl. He located her in the front bedroom and pulled her to the window. He carried her to the edge of the awning and lowered her to a neighbor. Fire began to burn through the awning. A neighbor handed Doyle a CO2 extinguisher and without the protection of a hand line or protective gear he kicked in the door and proceeded to the second floor to search for additional victims. He made a
search and expended the extinguisher, then exited the building as the
first-due units arrived. He relayed the location of the fire and the fact
that the trapped occupant had been removed. The 10-year-old girl was
hospitalized suffering severe smoke inhalation and respiratory distress
caused by burns to her throat. Doyle was treated at the hospital for burns
to his hands and face and smoke inhalation.
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Robert W. Doyle FDNY Ladder 174 Brooklyn NY $3,000 Award |
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Paul Burley $2,000 Award |
John Lyon $2,000Award |
Morningside MD FD Squad 27 |
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On April 5,
2002, civilians flagged down Squad 27 and reported a fire. The Squad found
heavy fire on the first floor of a townhouse with a report of two small
children trapped in their second-floor bedroom. Lieutenant Burley and
Firefighter Lyon, without the protection of a hose line, entered the house,
crawled under the fire and climbed the stairs to the second floor. They
started their search in the bedroom, which was directly over the fire on the
first floor. The fire then flashed up the stairs into the bedroom and rolled
out the windows, trapping the firefighters. They exited the bedroom under
the flames. |
Crawling out of the bedroom, the firefighters came face to face with a fully involved staircase. Entering the bedroom with their faces to the floor, the fire was rolling over their heads. They found the two children, one a 5-year-old and the other a 3-yearold. Three other firefighters advanced a hose line and knocked down the fire in the stairway, allowing the firefighters to remove the children from the townhouse. Both children were in cardiac arrest and the crew started CPR. The children’s’ pulses were restored in the ambulance, but the older boy died later that day. The younger boy survived. |
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On Feb. 14, 2002, Battalion Chief Marketti responded as the second-due chief to an all-hands fire on the second floor of a three-story Queen Anne-type dwelling. Upon his arrival, fire was venting out the front windows from the second floor. The first-due chief, Battalion 41, advised Marketti that there were reports of civilians trapped on the second or third floor. Marketti was ordered to operate on the third floor. He donned his mask, and with severe conditions and people missing, he decided to start a search immediately without waiting for a hose line. In zero visibility he crawled toward the front of the building on the third floor. He could hear crackling in the walls and above him. Fire was now showing along the front wall. He found a woman lying between the bed and the wall. He called for assistance and dragged her toward the hall. Giving the victim to Firefighter McDonald from Ladder 157, Marketti reentered the bedroom and found the lifeless form of a 5-year-old boy. He removed the boy and then turned his attention to controlling the fire, which had escalated to a second alarm. The victims were airlifted to Jacobi Hospital's hyperbaric chamber in critical condition. |
James Marketti Battalion 48 FDNY Brooklyn NY $1,000 Award |
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He vented
the window and entered the apartment without the protection of a hose line
and placed himself in the path of the advancing fire. Visibility was zero.
He searched the room and felt a victim. He transmitted an urgent message
and dragged the victim to the window. As two firefighters raised another
ladder, Fitzhenry handed the woman out the window, and the firefighters
removed her to the ground. Fitzhenry needed help to exit the second floor,
but couldn't wait any longer due to the fire now rolling out the top of
the window. He dove out the window into the arms of a firefighter. He
rejoined his crew and continued to extinguish the fire. Fitzhenry suffered
second-degree burns to his left ear and forehead. |
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Kevin M. Fitzhenry Bayonne, NJ FD Engine 3 $1,000 Award |
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William B. O'Sullivan Ladder 23 $1,000 Award |
Robert Kilduff Ladder 23 $100 Award |
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Kevin A. Deagle Ladder 6 $100 Award |
David M. Dowd Rescue 2 $100 Award |
Boston FD Boston MA |
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On
the morning of January 6, 2002 Ladder 23 responded to a building fire. Heavy
fire was issuing from the fire building, a three-story structure, and was
extending to the exposures on either side. Firefighters were informed of
children trapped in the rear hall of the third floor. O’Sullivan climbed
to the third floor, found the children and removed them to the rear
porch.
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and Lieutenant Robert T. Kilduff, and Firefighters Kevin A. Deagle and
David M. Dowd comforted the children and shared their air supplies with
them until they were rescued by means of ground ladders. Firefighter
O'Sullivan suffered burns to his ears and neck as well as smoke
inhalation. The rescue was performed prior to the placement of charged
hose lines and with total disregard for personal
safety. |
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Christopher Kennedy Ladder 31 $500 Award |
William Maynor Engine 49 $500 Award |
Cincinnati OH FD |
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On Nov. 22, 2002, Cincinnati fire companies were dispatched to a reported structure fire. The first due engine reported heavy fire and smoke emitting from the rear of the home. Lieutenant Maynor and another fire fighter from the first-due engine stretched a hose line to the front steps of the house. They were met by two hysterical adults shouting that their children were still in the house. He went to the second-floor front bedroom to start a search for the children. Firefighter Kennedy and his officer started a search in the rear bedroom. |
Struggling through smoke and debris, Kennedy found a young girl on the floor. He immediately lifted her and hurried downstairs, handing the 4-year-old to paramedics for transport. Moments later, Maynor discovered a small body among the covers in a bed. He grabbed the 2-year-old boy and carried him to paramedics from Rescue 14. The two children were hospitalized for two weeks but survived their injuries. |
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The
fire had consumed one apartment and extended into the hallway, trapping
two adults in their apartments. Heat and thick smoke prevented the
occupants from using the hallway. The standpipe system was found to be
inoperable and there was going to be a delay in putting water on the fire.
Tong continued down the hot, dark hallway to locate the trapped victims.
He found the hose line from the standpipe, which was flowing water, but
had no nozzle. Tong advanced the line and used it to bold the fire in
check just long enough for an engine and truck company to
work together using an aerial ladder to remove the victims through
windows. |
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Dennis Tong San Diego CA FD Engine 3 $500 Award |
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While
off-duty on Jan. 6, 2002, Firefighter Banning and his family were driving
home when they witnessed a single-car rollover. The car veered off the
road into a ravine and onto its roof. Banning stopped to investigate. The
car was issuing smoke from the passenger compartment and Banning could
hear moans. Arriving at the vehicle, he found the driver trapped. He forced
open the door and tried to remove the driver without success. He then cut
the seatbelt and with great physical effort removed the driver. While
doing this he received second- and third degree burns to his forearms and
hands. Because of the heavy smoke Banning was unaware that there was a
passenger in the vehicle. Shortly after removing the driver, the vehicle
became completely involved in fire. The driver was treated for second and
third degree burns and lost a leg. |
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John Banning Austin TX FD Medical Training Division $500 Award |
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Robert J. Mullins Lynn MA FD Ladder 1 $500 Award |
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The Millburn Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a fire. Captain Bruce Hornecker, who was off duty, resides in the same apartment complex as the fire and heard a partial address over his scanner. He left the building and found fire and heavy smoke coming from a first-floor air conditioner of the building behind his residence. A resident from the second floor reported that her 92-year-old mother was trapped in the apartment above the fire and was unable to walk. Without any
protective equipment, Hornecker entered the building and encountered heavy
smoke in the stairway. He entered the apartment over the fire. Hornecker
crawled on his hands and knees and located the woman in the kitchen. He
carried the woman to the street and then reentered the fire apartment,
where he searched for additional victims until the arrival of fire crews.
He suffered smoke inhalation but was able to return to duty on the
following day. |
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Bruce Hornecker Millburn NJ FD $500 Award |
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Firefighter
Stephen Fenley entered to assess the collapse. Another firefighter checked
the victim's condition. The victim's knees were pinned to his chest and he
was unable to move due to the building material on his back. Fenley
reported that the area was in need of shoring and an airbag operation was
required. Stacked airbags eventually freed the trapped victim. The lean-
to voids were unstable and the risk of secondary collapse was present
during the entire operation. Fenley spent fifty minutes inside the
collapsed area. |
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Stephen P. Fenley FDNY Staten Island NY Ladder 78 $500 Award |
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Michael Boub $500 Award |
Christopher Gay $500 Award |
Loudon County VA FD |
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On
July 6, 2002, off-duty Firefighters Michael Boub and Christopher Gay were
returning home from a paramedic exam. They noticed smoke coming from a three
story garden apartment building. The fire involved its interior stairwell
and roof, and was extending to several apartments. A number of people were
hanging from windows on the second and third floors. As firefighters arrived
from Manassas Park and began their attack, ground ladders were removed from
their apparatus.
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Firefighter Boub discovered a mother and a baby hanging from a second-floor window. Before he could move the ladder, the mother dropped the baby to him. He handed the baby to a bystander, then moved the ladder and removed the mother. Both firefighters then entered the building and assisted in the search and removal of other occupants. Both were treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries. They conducted all of these activities without breathing apparatus or protective equipment. |
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