Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 1997
These winners were recognized in the April, 1998 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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| Brian Alkire | Sheffield Township, IN | Mark E. Gardner | Baltimore County, MD | Kenneth Chriatiansen | Staten island, NY |
| Martin Gotte | New Rochelle, NY | Robert Crabtree | Carrboro, NC | Stephen Elliott | Manhattan, Ny |
| Walter E. Webb | Washington, DC | John Barrett | Bronx, NY | Stephen Gladding | Queens, NY |
| Earnest P. Copeland | Dallas, TX | Jeffrey A. Barkley | Phoenix, Ny | Robert Hagan | Bronx, Ny |
| Anthony Glover | Nashville, TN | William Benevelli | Boston, MA | Bruce Haggquist | Boston, MA |
| Louis Giancurso | Rochester, Ny | Myles Burke | Philadelphia, PA | ||
| Anthony W. Rivera | San Francisco, CA | Nocenzo Cusamano | Queens, NY |
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On Oct. 24, 1996, Captain Brian Alkire rushed into a working
structure fire to warn seven other firefighters of impending danger. He had seen a flicker
of fire in the eaves of the garage and knew there was fire in the attic above the
firefighters. As he reached the last firefighter, the roof collapsed, trapping Alkire and
Firefighter Louis Lawson in the inferno. Lawson escaped the fire with burns to his head
and hands but the collapse knocked Alkire’s helmet off, leaving him with only his
hood to protect his head.
Despite the danger to himself, Alkire continued looking for the other firefighters before fighting his way through large pieces of plasterboard and wood to get out of the inferno. As he emerged — completely on fire — other firefighters tried to put out the flames, then rushed him to a tank of water and submerged him in it. Even after the fire that had enveloped him was extinguished, Alkire was still more concerned about the safety of the others than about himself. Alkire spent many weeks in the Wishard Burn Unit for treatment of his second- and third-degree burns. He has undergone numerous skin-grafting surgeries and months of occupational therapy. |
| Brian Alkire Sheffield Township, IN, FD |
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On the morning of Feb. 1, 1997, firefighters responded to a working
structure fire across the street from their firehouse.
As the firefighters prepared a hoseline to be charged, they learned that a little girl was trapped on the second floor in the midst of the fire. Without waiting for the line to be charged, Firefighter Martin Gotte immediately went up the stairs as fire was venting from the bedrooms. Crawling through the dense heat and smoke, made worse by energy-efficient windows, Gotte felt the child lying between two beds. He rushed her through the hazardous conditions and immediately started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Gotte, with the help of other firefighters, was able to resuscitate the child. She was transported to a burn center, where she survived her injuries. |
Martin Gotte New Rochelle, NY FD |
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On Dec. 20,1996, firefighters responded to a house fire, where they
were told by bystanders that there may be people trapped on the second floor. Lieutenant
Walter E. Webb and two other firefighters entered the first floor of the house with a
charged handline to contain the fire they saw venting from the basement. As they were
doing this, Firefighter Dion Robertson was knocked down by falling debris and became
trapped. At the same time, the gas meter m the basement ruptured, causing conditions on
the first floor to deteriorate rapidly.
With conditions excruciatingly hot and fire all around, Webb grabbed Robertson and dragged him about 25 feet, where he was met by Firefighter Joseph Myers, who assisted them both to safety. Minutes later, the front portion of the first floor burned through and collapsed into the basement. Robertson received first-, second- and third-degree burns all over his body. Webb, who had stood up to drag Robertson and knowingly exposed himself to the heat and flames, suffered first-and second-degree burns to his face and ears. |
| Walter E. Webb Washington, DC FD |
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Engine 46, commanded by Lieutenant Earnest Copeland, responded to a fire in a two-story motel. Upon arrival, the crew was met with fire showing from multiple locations and people jumping from windows. On the second floor, a baby was trapped in the fire. Without waiting for help, Copeland and others took a line to the second floor in an attempt to rescue the child. Tthe hoseline ran out about 30 feet from the room. With fire burning overhead, Copeland ran to the room to continue his search. Facing fire all around, he entered an adjacent room and found the child. He removed his air mask and placed it over her the child’s face to provide air. On his way out, he fell into a hole that had burned through the floor of the hall. With fire rolling overhead and still clinging to the child, he struggled to get out, but to no avail. Driver/Engineer, Steve Gouse, who had gone looking for the lieutenant, helped him and the child to escape. Unfortunately the child succumbed to the injuries suffered from the fire. |
Earnest P. Copeland Dallas, TX FD |
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On May 20, 1997, Engine Company 9 responded to a multi-alarm
structure fire. As Firefighter Anthony Glover and Captain Terry Secrest tried to reach an
attack line in the burning structure, Secrest’s face piece became disconnected from
his regulator, exposing him to unbearable conditions. Glover quickly removed his own
face piece and shared his air with Secrest.
A flashover occurred, trapping them both in the burning structure. Glover, while sharing air with Secrest, dragged him 90 feet through hazardous conditions, zero visibility and mazelike passageways. Entering a room with no exit and with a depleted air supply, Glover broke through a charred stud wall and dragged his fellow firefighter toward the exit. After reaching the outside, Glover collapsed and refused treatment until Secret received treatment. |
Anthony Glover, Nashville, TN FD |
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Firefighter
Louis Giancursio responded with Attack 1 to the site of a natural gas explosion. Upon
arrival, the crew found that a 2½ -story house had been reduced to almost a pile of
rubble and was on fire. Firefighters were trying vainly to put out the fire and at the
same time rescue a victim trapped under the roof.
As the fire raged on, Giancursio made a number of cuts into the collapsed building in order to assess the victim. The debris consisted of structural lumber, plaster and lath, and wall paneling that had to be cut into manageable pieces in order not to injure the victim further. All the while, the threat of another collapse and the advancing fire were exacerbating the rescue attempt. Despite the danger to the victim and himself; Giancursio made the necessary cuts without hurting the victim; he also crawled into the structure to free the victim’s legs so that he could pull her to safety. Though aware of the perils during this extrication, he rescued the victim and did so with no regard for his own safety. |
Louis Giancursio Rochester, NY FD |
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On Aug. 22, 1997, Firefighter Anthony Rivera and
Rescue Squad 2 responded to a fire in a four-story structure. With a report of a trapped
person on the third floor, Rivera and Firefighter Randall Hiro, without the aid of a
charged hoseline, struggled through intense heat, smoke and fire to search for the victim.
As the search continued and conditions worsened, Rivera and Hiro separated to look for the victim. Near the rear door, Rivera found an unconscious man and reported the find via radio to the others. He dragged the victim across the room to the rear stairs where he was met by Captain Steven Freeman, and removed his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to try to aid the victim with fresh air. Though listed in critical condition in the hospital, the victim survived in large part because of Rivera’s heroic and unselfish actions. |
Anthony W. Rivera, San Francisco, CA FD |
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On April 8,1997,
emergency units were dispatched to rescue a young child who had fallen into a 58-foot-deep
well in the basement of an old shed. They found the boy in the cold water, clinging to
several water pipes.
The rescuers lowered a lifejacket to the boy in an attempt to protect him in the event he fell into the eight feet of standing water at the bottom of the well. Next, an air hose was stretched to the bottom of the well to pressurize the well with fresh air and a meter was lowered to monitor the air quality around the child. Lieutenant Mark E. Gardner, a member of the Baltimore County Advanced Tactical Rescue Team, was then lowered down into the well and was forced to maneuver around the pipes at the bottom, as well as the child himself, to attach a harness to the boy so that he could be extricated safely. |
Mark E. Gardner Baltimore County, MD FD |
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On May 22, 1997, Captain
Robert Crabtree and others responded to a heavily involved structure fire. He and
Firefighter Darryl Russell were first on the scene and attempted to make entry through the
front door with a handline. As Crabtree made his way in, the floor gave way beneath him,
hurtling him 12 feet into the basement into a 1,200-degree Fahrenheit environment.
Russell immediately tried to save him but couldn’t reach him all the way. A 12-foot roof ladder was brought in. Despite the second- and third-degree burns he suffered in the four-minute interval he was trapped, Crabtree managed to climb halfway up the ladder until the others could reach him and pull him to safety. |
Robert Crabtree, Carrboro, NC FD |
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Firefighter Barrett crawled under and past a fire in a tenement to
rescue four trapped occupants. An hysterical woman was holding her 6 week old son outside
the window screaming she would drop him and jump out the window, 40 feet from the ground.
He took the baby. Clutching the infant in his arms he grabbed the distraught mother and in a calm voice instructed her and two other occupants to hold tight to him and he would lead them to safety. Barrett then led them down the potentially lethal hallway and stairs to the street. |
John Barrett, FDNY, Bronx, NY |
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On June 8,
1997, Assistant Fire Chief Jeffery A. Barkley, equipped with only a firefighting SCBA,
entered the cold waters of the New York State Barge Canal to rescue a 15-year-old girl who
had lost control of her bicycle and plunged head-first into the water. Despite rescue
efforts of the village police, they were not able to locate her through surface dives,
since she was laying at the bottom, 15 feet below. Fighting cold water, the buoyancy of the airpack and trying vainly to hang onto a lifeline held by another firefighter, Barkley was able to retrieve the girl from the bottom of the canal. As he surfaced with his hands cut and bleeding from zebra mussels in the water, he was assisted and the girl was rushed to Lee Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition. |
Jeffery A. Barkley, Phoenix, NY FD |
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On May 20, 1996, at 0322 hours, Box 2264 was struck for a building fire at 126A Highland Street, Roxbury. Heavy fire was reported from the front and rear first floor of a two story townhouse. As the fire was knocked down at the front doorway, Firefighter Benevelli of Rescue Company 2 raced past the fire and up the stairwell to the second floor. He searched the upper floor under intense heat and heavy smoke conditions, found a child on the floor, and removed the victim to the street after again passing fire on the first floor. |
William Benevelli, Boston, MA FD |
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Fire companies
encountered a four story dwelling with heavy fire on all floors. A civilian informed the
companies that there were two or three people still inside the building. Firefighter Myles
Burke of Task Force 11, Platoon B, crawled past the fire on the interior stairs to the
upper floors. He was led to a fourth floor rear bedroom by the sound of frantic pleas for help. He successfully removed one man to a waiting ladder placed at the window of a rear bedroom by one of the ladder companies. He returned to the fourth floor and removed a woman from a bedroom window into the arms of waiting firefighters. Again Firefighter Burke returned to the interior of the building under extreme heat and smoke and searched for additional occupants. After a complete search of the building, an exhausted Firefighter Burke began his descent down the interior stairwell. He lost his footing, fell down the steps, and injured his hand. He left the building and was transported to the hospital. |
Myles Burke, Philadelphia, PA FD |
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Ladder 151 was called for a fire at a six story
multiple dwelling. Lt. Cusumano was confronted with fire showing at three third floor
windows, heavy smoke, and numerous people calling for help from the fire escape and
windows. After ordering his crew to ladder, vent, search and gain entry from exterior
positions, Cusumano led two members of the forcible entry team into the building and moved
to the location of the fire.
Without the protection of a charged hose, he entered the apartment and made his way through two rooms heavily charged with smoke and heat. Past those rooms he came upon a bedroom in flames. He found a woman’s body of lying near the doorway. He pulled her from the room and, with the assistance of one of his men, carried her to safety. The victim was removed to the Burn Center and admitted in critical condition with third degree bums. The severity of her burns attests to the critical timing of this rescue. Had it not been for the quick and daring actions of Lt. Cusumano, this woman would not have survived this fire. |
Nocenzo Cusamano, FDNY, Queens, NY |
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Ladder 78 responded to a
fire in a 6 story multiple dwelling building. Firefighter Kenneth J. Christiansen realized
that forceable entry teams would not be on the scene for several more minutes. Hearing of
a trapped victim, he placed a 16 ft. ladder at a window and entered the fire apartment. Because of the small dimensions of the window he entered the fire apartment head first. He found himself in the living room. As he searched, crawling on his stomach past fire rolling out from the bedroom door, he found an unconscious man with second and third degree burns to his arms and legs. Christiansen took the victim into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. This was his only option because his retreat was cut off by the fire. He began CPR. Moments later the Forcible Entry Team entered with a charged hoseline, allowing Christianson to move the victim to safety. The victim spent two weeks in the hospital and was then released. |
Kenneth Christiansen, FDNY, Staten Island, NY |
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Ladder Co. 30 was faced with
fire from windows on the 8th floor of an apartment building. The aerial ladder was placed
at the only window that did not have fire showing, and Firefighter Elliott climbed it to
vent the building. As the inside team arrived on the 8th floor they were met with heavy smoke and intense heat in the hallway. At this point Elliott radioed that he was in position to vent. Lt. Bell told Elliott not to vent because they had no charged line and could not enter the apartment through the front door. Elliott said that he would attempt a search and crawled into the window. He felt his way down the wall as he crawled on his belly, trying to stay under the heat. He moved as fast as he could, knowing that the room could flash over at any time. He felt his way to what felt like a table and chairs and found something soft in between them. He had found a victim. He dragged her to the window. FF Barry had climbed the aerial ladder to the window, and Elliott passed her out to him. The victim was removed to the street where EMS was waiting with a resuscitator. Elliott’s actions saved her from certain death. |
Stephen Elliott, FDNY, Manhattan, NY |
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Ladder 126 arrived to find a
heavily involved dwelling. Firefighter Gladding Climbed a 16 foot ladder to the porch roof
and encountered an injured civilian who had jumped from an attic window. He said that a
woman was trapped in the attic. Gladding pulled the ladder onto the porch roof and climbed to the attic window. Using a tool and brute force, he removed the window crosspiece and a child gate. Placing his feet on the second rung from the top of the unbutted ladder, he squeezed in, reached down a few feet from the opening, and felt the body of a young woman. Pulling for all he was worth, he maneuvered the unconscious woman to a position directly below the sill. The angle of the ladder and lack of a buttman prevented him from pulling her out head first. Although unbalanced, he pulled the 130 lb. victim out, sandwiching her between himself and the window. He folded her into a "U" shape and pressed her to the portable ladder as he made his descent. Firefighter Wind returned to assist Gladding with the inert form of the woman as the remainder of the attic flashed over. On her removal to the street, EMS successfully performed CPR and transported her to the hospital. Firefighter Gladding subjected himself to extreme punishment and placed himself in a precarious position to make the lifesaving rescue of this woman. |
Stephen Gladding, FDNY, Queens, NY |
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Ladder Co. 59, commanded by
Lt. Hagan, arrived at a fully involved building used as both a Buddhist Temple and a
residence. Many occupants were reported to be trapped. Hagan and his forcible entry team
broke through at the front door as first in company. They were met with a wall of fire. The temple encompassed the entire first floor. The size of the room, approximately 40 ft. by 60 ft. with numerous altars, statues and ornaments strewn about, made the primary search exceedingly difficult. As FF Sanguiolo expended his pressurized extinguisher trying to contain the spreading fire Lt. Hagan searched for victims. The heat and fire rolling across the ceiling forced him to crawl on his stomach. Hearing faint moans, he pushed deeper into the room. Without the protection of a charged hoseline, He placed himself at great personal risk. He came upon the severely burned form of Mr. Anh Tu Nguyen. Hagan dragged him to safety. Mr. Nguyen was hospitalized for several months with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 40% of his body. Lt. Hagan displayed exceptional courage, initiative and determination in effecting this rescue. |
Robert Hagan, FDNY, Bronx, NY |
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On February 12, 1997, while on vacation on board a boat two and one half hours out to sea, Firefighter Bruce K. Haggquist, Engine Company 41, was informed that a member of the group, while snorkeling near a coral reef, had swum into a cove and suffered a severe heart attack. Haggquist dove into the water and swam 300 feet into the cove, where he found the man clinging to the rocks. Assisted by another swimmer, Haggquist pulled the man from the rocks and successfully placed him aboard the boat. Firefighter Haggquist monitored the victim’s vital signs for almost an hour and one half before they intercepted a Coast Guard vessel. The victim was transported by the Coast Guard boat to a medical facility and recovered. |
Bruce Haggquist, Boston, MA FD |
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