Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 2002
These winners were recognized in the April, 2003 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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| McKenzie, Mark | Prince George's County MD FD | Ullrich, Mike | Shelton CT FD | Schupe, Hayden | Cleveland OH FD |
| Pifer, Ronald | Fairfax County VA FD | Sabatino, Justin | Shelton CT FD | Snyder, Aaron W. | Fairfax County VA FD |
| Randall, Charles D. | Miramar FL FD | Sekelsky, David | Shelton CT FD | Stottlemyer, Wayne | Fairfax County VA FD |
| Riesterer, Joseph | Detroit FD | Tortora, William | Shelton CT FD | Sutter, Dan | St. Louis MO FD |
| Mourad, Kip | Baton Rouge LA FD | Palma, John | Miami-Dade FL FD | Sweeney, John J. Jr. | FDNY |
| Rockwell, Robert | Shelton CT FD | Rybak, Richard | Detroit FD | Walsh, Paul B. | Boston FD |
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Units were dispatched to a reported apartment building fire. Upon arrival units found a four-story apartment building with heavy fire on the second floor extending to the upper floors, with reports of people trapped. Tower 33 arrived under the direction of Captain Mark McKenzie and took a position in the rear of the building. However, the building’s location and the surrounding landscape prevented them from using their aerial apparatus. McKenzie directed his crew to begin placing ground ladders at the rear of the structure. As a 24 foot extension ladder was being raised, an occupant who was trapped on the fourth floor presented himself on his balcony. Smoke and fire in the interior stairs blocked his escape. McKenzie realized that the 24 foot ladder would only reach the third floor balcony and directed his crew to retrieve a longer ladder. By now the man appeared to be very anxious as the smoke and fire continued to grow in the neighboring apartment. McKenzie determined to make the rescue before the victim panicked and jumped. He grabbed a 14 foot roof ladder and carried it to the top of the 24 foot ladder at the third floor balcony. From this point he hoisted the roof ladder over his head and hooked it on to the fourth floor balcony railing. He climbed this ladder, at a 90-degree angle, to the fourth floor balcony. He then assisted the victim over the railing and onto the ladder, and while securing the civilian between himself and the ladder, guided him to the third floor balcony and safety. |
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Mark E.
McKenzie Station 33 Prince George's County, MD, FD $100 Award |
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While off duty riding his motorcycle in the Winchester Virginia area Technician Ronald Pifer came across a horrific accident. A tractor trailer had rear-ended a mini van; he first thought the vehicle that was struck from behind was a four door pick-up truck. This was because the tractor trailer had settled on the rear portion of the mini van. Another motorist arrived on the scene. Pifer retrieved a tool from the trunk of the motorist's vehicle to gain access into the mini van. He broke a side window, entered the vehicle and determined that there were five victims. As he performed a quick assessment of the victims, he realized two of the five were not breathing. He quickly repositioned their airways and the victims resumed breathing on their own. He gathered mental notes on all the victims, staying in the vehicle until arrival of local fire and rescue. As the fire and medical crews arrived, Pifer relayed critical patient information. He stayed on the scene and continued patient care until their removal to a hospital. |
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Ronald
Pifer Station 25 Fairfax County, VA, FD $100 Award |
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At 4 AM on September 8, 2002 Rescue 19 arrived at the scene of a fire in a residence. People were reported trapped. Not wanting to lose time in donning rescue equipment, Lieutenant Charles Randall moved around the house with his crew to the sound of someone banging on one of the first floor windows. The Rescue 19 crew found a very heavy woman, over 350 pounds, and a nine year old boy. They were trapped in a bathroom. Its sole small window was 5 feet from the ground. Smashing the window, Randall easily rescued the boy, but used every ounce of his strength to pull the woman through the arrow passage, which was overflowing with dense smoke. As he completed the rescue, rooms within the house began to flash over. |
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Charles
Donald Randall Miramar, FL, FD $100 Award |
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Joseph
Riesterer Detroit FD $100 Award |
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Rescue 1 arrived on the scene as the
department’7s first company and found a single story and wood frame home
completely engulfed in heavy flames and smoke. On the street Linda Johnson
screamed her adult daughter was still inside. Her cries for help could be
herd from the street. Captain Kip Mourad and his crew realized that there
was not enough time to don all of their protective gear and make a
successful rescue. They decided to make a rescue attempt without breathing
apparatus. Mourad and Firefighter Jason Jordan entered the home through a
back door after receiving instruction as to the victim’s location. The
crawled into the house and headed for the victim’s bedroom.
As they opened the room’s door they could hear faint cries coming
from a corner of the room. They reached the woman and were pulling her
into the hallway the fire in a nearby room suddenly flashed over, blasting Jordan out
the back door and knocking Mourad to the ground. Mourad lost his helmet
and radio but went back with his other three crew members and pulled Debra
to safety. She was transported to a hospital and survived her injuries. |
Kip Mourad Rescue 1Baton Rouge, LA, FD $100 Award |
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Robert Rockwell $100 Award |
Michael Ullrich $100 Award |
Justin Sabatino Honorable Mention |
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No Picture
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No Picture |
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Honorable Mention |
Honorable Mention |
Shelton, CT, FD |
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On March 19, 2002
the Echo Hose H&L Company 1 and the Pine Rock Fire Company 4
were dispatched to a structure fire. Upon arrival, Deputy Fire Marshal
Robert Rockwell heard Assistant Chief Michael Ullrich’s radio
transmission that there were people trapped inside. Rockwell quickly
donned his fire gear with SCBA and headed towards the rear of the house.
He entered the structure, joined Ullrich, and began searching together. In
zero visibility Ullrich led the search down the hall and into the rear
bedroom. Ullrich found victim#1 laying unresponsive in a bed. He yelled to
Rockwell that he had found a victim. With Rockwell's help he removed the
victim through the back entrance. By this time, the fire had grown and was
rolling over the tops of their heads.
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As they were exiting the house, the first charged hose line was coming in to attack the fire. Once outside, they passed the unresponsive victim to Firefighter Justin Sabatino who started mouth-to-mouth and CPR. Rockwell then re-entered the house with Ullrich to try and find the second victim. Unfortunately, the second victim was fatally burned and was unable to be removed from the house. A few minutes later a bystander opened a charged line into the livig room of the hose. Steam from this unauthorized stream struck firefighters David Sekelsky and William Tortora. They suffered second and third degree burns and were hospitalized for several days. |
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At 10:00 PM
on December 14, 2002 Firefighter John Palma was the driver of a Rescue
unit that arrived on the scene of a car submerged in a canal. There were
no SCUBA divers on the responding units. Palma entered the water as a skin
diver, with no equipment whatever. He dove 15 feet into the murky water of
the Miami River, located the car, broke a window and pulled the victim
out. Even an experienced diver would find this rescue
extraordinary. The water, not the cleanest or clearest in broad daylight,
was pitch black. The temperature of the air was in the 50s and water
temperature was in the low 70s. With adrenaline pumping, holding his
breath must have been extremely difficult for Firefighter Palma. After
performing this impressive rescue, Palma assisted with the treatment of
the victim, and then drove the unit to the hospital. |
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John
Palma Rescue 35 Miami-Dade FD Miami, FL $100 Award |
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Firefighter
Richard Rybak responded with the crew of Engine 58 to a dwelling fire on
the morning of October 17, 2001. The
house was fully involved with smoke pouring from every window.
People were reported as being trapped within. Ladder 23’s crew
had several ladders up and were attempting to make rescues. After being
told by a tenant that his mother was inside, Firefighter Rybak donned his
SCBA, entered the building, climbed to the second floor, and began a
primary search. He found a
bedroom door blocked by clutter, forced the door open, and found an
elderly semi-conscious woman. Rybak
led the woman back down the hall to the stairs, down the stairs and
outside, where EMS crews transported her to a hospital, where she was
treated and released. |
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Richard
Rybak Engine 58 Detroit FD $100 Award |
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Engine 24
arrived at the scene of a house fire on October 13, 2001.
Flames were shooting from the building’s side door and smoke was
flowing from under the eaves. Members
learned that a victim was trapped inside.
Firefighter Hayden Schupe helped to stretch a line, then advance
into the house through the side door (the only entrance to the house).
Crawling in the dense smoke, Schupe searched a bathroom, then
crawled past the seat of the fire in the kitchen to the living room, where
he found an unconscious woman. He
carried her back through the kitchen and out the side door, where waiting
firefighters administered first aid and transported her to the hospital.
She survived her injuries. |
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Hayden
Schupe Engine 24 Cleveland FD $100 Award |
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The Technical Rescue Services Team was dispatched to the Six Flags Amusement Park for an attempted suicide. They found a man on the catwalk of an amusement ride that was over 120 feet above the ground. Acting as the Technical Rescue Team Leader, Fire Technician Adon W. Snyder, formulated a plan with the Police Emergency Services Team to ascend the structure, secure the victim, and prepare him for lowering to the ground. Upon reaching the victim Snyder assembled a rope system for
lowering him to the ground and fitted him with a rescue harness all the
while talking to calm the distraught man.
Since there were no resources that could reach the victim due to
the height exceeding 120 feet, Snyder was given the responsibility of
lowering the victim via rescue rope. With all safety precautions in place
the victim was lowered to the ground, where he was evaluated by paramedics
and turned over to the Prince George's County Police. The entire rescue
was completed in only 44 minutes. |
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Aaron W.
Snyder Station 22 Prince George's County, MD, FD $100 Award |
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Lieutenant Wayne Stottlemyer and his family were attending a picnic with family and friends in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. While the group was playing volleyball they heard a tremendous crash very close by. One of the guests shouted that there had been an auto accident right down the street. Stottlemyer ran to the scene to assess the situation. He found an SUV on its top, with several persons attempting to exit the vehicle. The adults extricated themselves, but they were shouting and very concerned that "our baby is stuck". A six year old girl was trapped in the vehicle. Stottlemyer gained access into the vehicle and determined that her right leg had gone through the vehicle's moon roof as it rolled over and was now pinned between the ground and the roof of the car. Gasoline was leaking from the engine compartment, placing Stottlemyer and the girl in a dangerous situation. Not knowing how long it would take for emergency units to arrive, Stottlemyer deemed it necessary to attempt to lift the vehicle with the bystanders on the scene. He remained in the
vehicle and attempted to calm the young girl as he gave directions to the
bystanders to roll the vehicle slightly, hoping this would allow him to
free the young girl's leg. As the car was being moved, the roof support
collapsed, placing some of the weight of the vehicle on Stottlemyer. He
directed the bystanders to stop moving the vehicle and remained with the
young girl until rescue
personnel arrived with the proper equipment. The girl was successfully
removed and hospitalized with a broken leg. |
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Wayne
Stottlemyer Station
26 Fairfax County, VA, FD $100 Award |
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At 5:00 A.M.
a first alarm was struck for a house fire. People were reported as being
trapped. Companies found a three story brick dwelling with heavy
fire showing throughout the first floor. The second and third floors were
filled with heavy smoke. Seven to ten of the occupants had already left.
Firefighters Dan Sutter and Nick Morgan were assigned to search the second
floor. They proceeded up the front stairs to locate two children reported to be on that floor. At the top of the stairs they found heavy fire in the room directly to the right and in the bathroom to their left. They entered the room to the right and found no victims and attempted to make their way to the back of the building. The fire suddenly flashed, separating the two men. Morgan was forced back down the stairs and Sutter was forced to the rear of the building and had to evacuate out the back door, diving out on the back porch and down a ladder. Sutter immediately
returned to the front of the building and reentered. He again made his way
to the second floor. A hose line had been stretched and some of the fire
had been knocked down allowing Sutter to make his way to the back room he
was initially unable to search. Here he found the two children. He carried
both children down the stairs and outside where they were treated by
medical personnel. Sadly both children were later pronounced dead at the
hospital.
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Dan
Sutter Rescue Squad 2 St. Louis FD $100 Award |
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On March 8 2002 at 0035 Hours Squad 270 was dispatched to a fire in a Sikh temple with reports of people trapped. It was the first unit on the scene of the heavily involved wood frame building. The Battalion Chief ordered the crew of Squad 270 to search the side of the building because of reports of people trapped in that area. Lieutenant Chuisano and his can man (equipped with a portable water extinguisher) Firefighter John Sweeney took the first floor. The company proceeded down an alley and found a door leading to the rear of the building. Heavy black smoke and heat was pushing from every opening on the building’s side and rear, signaling a possible flashover. Upon starting their search through the side door, without the protection of a hose line, Chuisano and Sweeney were forced back by the high heat. It wasn't realized at the time, but there was heavy fire in the basement, the origin of the fire. Sweeney made another attempt to search the first floor and told Chuisano that he had found a doorway leading to the front of the building. Sweeney crawled through the door. After about 25 feet he found an unconscious man and began dragging the victim out. At this time
Engine 308 advanced an attack hose line on the fire opposite Sweeney's
location, sending fire and smoke toward Sweeney and the victim. Sweeney
was forced to his belly while shielding the victim from the searing heat.
Firefighters met Sweeney at the side door to assist in removing of the
victim. The man was transported to a local hospital with severe smoke
inhalation and second degree burns.
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John J. Sweeney Jr. Squad 270 FDNY Queens, NY $100 Award |
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On March 12, 2002, Box 5445 was struck for a
building fire at 224 Faneuil Street, District 11. First arriving companies
found a fire victim in front of the fire building with off duty
Firefighter Paul B. Walsh, Aide to the Deputy Chief, Division 2.
Walsh had responded from his home in the rear of the fire building
after being informed by neighbors that the victim reentered the building
to retrieve personal items. Walsh ascended to the second floor where he
found the man, who had suffered smoke inhalation and burns to his hands
and arms, and removed him to the street, where he was taken to the
hospital by ambulance. |
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Paul B.
Walsh Division 2 Boston FD $100 Award |
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