Firehouse Magazine Rescue Award Winners for 1998
These winners were recognized in the April, 1999 Issue of Firehouse Magazine.
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| Daryl Peake | Detroit, MI | Paul Stiggers | Cincinnati, OH | Martin Fuller | Montgomery Cty, MD |
| Anthony Licavoli | Detroit, MI | Thomas Flynn | Boston, MA | Joseph Fuller | Montgomery Cty, MD |
| Edward Nadolsky | Detroit, MI | Edward Loder | Boston, MA | Dennis Hollow | Lynn, MA |
| Orlando Willis | Prattville, AL | Peter Raiss | Detroit, MI | John Weeks | Lynn, MA |
| Bobby L. Davenport | Atlanta, GA | Robert Bittikofer | Detroit, MI | John Cooley | Montgomery Cty, MD |
| Mark L. Hatalla | Atlanta, GA | David Ellis | Dunbar, WV | Lee Marks | Teaneck, NJ |
| Clayton Jackson | Atlanta, GA | Mike Hoffman | Dunbar, WV | Robert Muhlhahn | Teaneck, NJ |
| Charles M. Covington | Atlanta, GA | Anthony G. Castellano | Brooklyn, NY | Brian Cleland | Detroit, MI |
| Chris E. Robinson | Shreveport, LA | Kevin Claiborne | Detroit, MI |
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Detroit, MI FD |
Detroit, MI FD |
Detroit, MI FD |
| At 5:15 AM on
February 3, 1998, Ladder 20 responded to a Box Alarm Fire. Sergeant Anthony Licavoli saw
heavy smoke and flames pouring from the fourth floor windows. He ordered Firefighter
Franklin Ross to extend the aerial ladder to a window two rooms from the fire. As Ross
positioned the aerial ladder, Licavoli donned his SCBA and climbed the ladder into an
apartment adjacent to the fire. Without a charged hoseline, through extensive heat and smoke, Licavoli entered one of the fire rooms. He found an unconscious sixteen month old boy. He picked the infant up and passed him to Firefighter Edward Nadolski of Ladder 20, who was waiting on the ladder, which had been re-positioned to the window of the fire apartment. Nadolski climbed down the aerial ladder with the infant and took him to safety. The boy recovered fully. |
Nadolski
returned to the fourth floor, entered the apartment, and climbed a stairwell to the fifth
floor to search for other victims. He found an unconscious infant girl. He carried her to
a fifth floor apartment, opened the window, and yelled to the operator of Ladder 24 to
move the aerial to his fifth floor location. Nadolski mounted the ladder and removed the
infant to safety. She recovered fully. At the same fire Firefighter Daryle Peake of Ladder 10 climbed his company’s aerial ladder to the fourth floor, entered the building, and climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, where he found a semi-conscious woman. He led her to a fifth floor apartment window. Ladder 20 re-positioned its aerial ladder to his location. Peake led the woman down the ladder to safety. |
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On July 15, 1998 at 3 am, off duty Firefighter Orlando Willis entered a mobile
home that was fully involved in fire. Wearing only a T-shirt, shorts and sandals with no
socks, he pulled two year old James Moseley from the bedroom hall to safety. At the time
of the incident Willis was one street over visiting with a high school friend. He heard a
boom and then a woman’s screams. He saw flames coming from a mobile home. He ran down the street and jumped a neighbor’s fence to meet Cindy Moseley, who had already escaped from the home with her young daughter. She told Willis that her infant son James was still inside. By now the front of the home was well involved, with fire showing out the front windows. Willis found a hoe handle and used it to ventilate the windward or rear side. He then entered the smoke filled home. Using the collar of his shirt to filter his nose and mouth, he groped down the hall. He heard James moaning, found him, and carried him from the burning home. As he was leaving, the first due ambulance and engine companies arrived on the scene. James left by ambulance to the local hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released. At the time of the rescue, Firefighter Willis had only been assigned to an engine company for six months. |
Orlando Willis, Prattville, AL FD |
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| Atlanta, GA FD |
| At 4 AM on March 3, 1998 Engine 16, Engine 22 and Battalion 2 were dispatched to a structure fire. Crews found a working fire in a one story frame house. E 16 began an interior attack. E 22 was assigned to back up E 16 with a second hoseline. As the companies searched for the seat of the fire, heat and smoke increased rapidly. Firefighters Bobby Davenport, Larry Warren, and Ronald Sherwood became disorientated, fatigued, and on the verge of panic. As their SCBA alarm bells began to sound, Davenport calmed the other firefighters and led them safely out of the structure. All three were treated for exhaustion. Back inside the house, Firefighter Norman English experienced problems with his SCBA. As he attempted to leave he became disoriented and fell against a wall. He inhaled high levels of carbon monoxide and heat. Lieutenant Mark L. Hatalla was working in the interior when he heard English moan as he struck the wall. | Hatalla found English unconscious without a helmet, hood, or face piece in place. He notified Command that a firefighter was down and requested help. Firefighters Clayton Jackson and Charles Covington heard his request and entered the structure to assist. Covington found Hatalla dragging English toward the door and began to help. Jackson removed his facepiece and placed it on English. English was removed from the structure and turned over to EMS for transport to the hospital. He was placed in a hyperbaric chamber for two hours, spent several days in the hospital, and was off duty for three weeks. The medical report indicated that his carbon monoxide level was so high that he would have died had he been exposed to that environment for another minute. Everyone has returned to full duty without any restrictions. |
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Captain
Robinson was driving eastbound in his city vehicle at 1:15 p.m. on March 24, 1998, when he
noticed two cars in the westbound lane that had been involved in an accident. One car was
sideways across the lanes of traffic and one was upside down. Robinson radioed fire
dispatchers and then jumped over the median barrier to provide aid for a woman in the
over-turned late model Corvette. Her injuries consisted of a traumatic amputation of the left arm at the shoulder and the loss of all facial tissue due to contact with the pavement while skidding for 300 feet. Robinson began to control arterial bleeds and stabilized the patient as much as possible. Upon the arrival of the first engine company, the patient was extricated and transported to a trauma center. She survived the accident. During assessment and treatment, Captain Robinson was at risk from traffic on the Interstate, leaking gasoline and exposure to body fluids. His prompt actions saved the woman’s life. |
| Chris E. Robinson Shreveport, LA FD |
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In the early hours of March 20, 1998, fire companies were
called out into the cold rainy night to fight a structure fire. Ladder 17 found a 3-story
apartment house heavily involved with smoke and flames. All but one of the residents had
fled the building. This man had made it as far as his third floor bathroom, gasping for air at its tiny window. Firefighter Paul Stiggers climbed the awkwardly angled aerial ladder through the rain, as the victim leaned out of the window, with shards of glass cutting into him and heavy black smoke venting around him. Flames were closing in on him from a few feet away. Stiggers told him to move backward, and he smashed the glass that was protruding around the window. Scared and unclothed, the victim was hesitant to come out, but terror overcame his embarrassment and he reached out to Stiggers. His determination and strength did not fail as he eased the 230 pound man through the window, which was only 14 inches wide. It was a slippery, treacherous trip back down, holding the ladder with one arm and carrying the semi-conscious victim over his shoulder with the other. Stiggers lost his balance on the wet rungs and sprained his ankle, but he kept a firm hold on the victim, whom he got down to safety. |
Paul Stiggers III Cincinnati, OH FD |
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Thomas Flynn Boston, MA FD |
Edward Loder Boston, MA FD |
| On
October 17, 1998, at 0226 hours, the department responded to an attempted suicide at the
Longfellow Bridge over the Charles River. Police Officers directed them onto Storrow
Drive. An unconscious woman was floating under the bridge toward the Charles River locks. Firefighter Thomas Flynn, Ladder 24, and Firefighter Edward T. Loder, Rescue 1, donned flotation suits and entered the water. They swam out about 300 feet and then swam under an arch for another 75 feet before reaching the victim. |
With great
difficulty, they placed her in a boat which Police Officers had commandeered from the
Charles River Marina. Once on board, the fire fighters performed CPR and revived her. She
and the firefighters were transported to the Massachusetts General Hospital where they
were treated for exhaustion and hypothermia. This rescue was performed with great personal risk due to poor visibility, cold water and exhaustion from swimming nearly 400 feet under extreme conditions. |
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At
10 PM on December 4, 1997, Ladder 23 responded to a house fire. The second floor was
completely involved in flames. A neighbor cried that there was a baby in room on the
second floor. Firefighters Peter Raiss, and Stephen Uhl raised a 20 foot extension ladder.
Without the assistance a hose line Raiss entered a second floor window. In extreme heat and smoke, he searched and found a. three year old child. He returned to the window and passed the child out to safety. Raiss then returned to the bedroom and assisted other firefighters in a search for a 40 year old male victim. He was found and removed downstairs to a waiting EMS unit. |
| Peter Raiss, Detroit, MI FD | Go to Directory at Top of this Page |
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On May 29,
1998, Engine 57 responded to a Box Alarm fire. They found a three story apartment building
engulfed in flames. Two civilians had already leaped from the third floor, and police
notified fire fighters that more civilians were trapped on the third floor. Fire Fighter
Robert Bittikofer of Engine 57 immediately climbed to the third floor via a stairwell that
was still in the process of being extinguished. Passing the pipemen, Bittikofer fought through intense heat and thick smoke and found an unconscious woman in a rear apartment on the living room floor. He called for help and other firefighters came and helped him to carry the victim through the long hallway and down the three flights of stairs to safety. She was revived by firefighters and EMS, but died the next day. |
Robert Bittikofer, Detroit, MI FD |
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David Ellis Dunbar, WV FD |
Mike Hoffman Dunbar, WV FD |
| On July 8th, 1998, while responding to a carbon monoxide incident, the Dunbar Fire Department found three victims (a father and two small children) on their porch suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. One patient was unconscious and the other two were confused and disoriented. As treatment began, the father stated that his wife was still inside. Firefighters Ellis and Hoffman immediately donned SCBA and entered the toxic environment. After about twenty feet they found an unconscious woman who was foaming at the mouth. | Her body was posturing and excreting a mucus that caused her skin to stick to the floor. The firefighters pulled her from the structure, where care from on- scene paramedics began. Readings of 1,650 parts per million of carbon monoxide (many times the amount considered life- threatening) were detected. The woman was treated in a hyperbaric chamber in Pittsburg. Her bloodstream was 50% saturated with carbon monoxide. She as well as the rest of the family recovered fully from their injuries. |
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On June 7th, 1998 off duty
Firefighter Anthony Castellano of Ladder 81 and Lieutenant Daniel LaRocco of Battalion 33
were with their wives in a car. They came upon an accident in the westbound lane of the
Belt Parkway. One of the vehicles was burning, and a distraught woman was screaming
"Help get him out or he’ll die!." Castellano ran to the auto. He saw an unconscious young man trapped behind the drivers seat with his legs jammed beneath the seat. Braving the heat, thick smoke and flames, he opened the driver side door and attempted to extricate the victim, but the young man’s feet were wedged under the seat. Despite the growing fire and risk of an explosion Castellano summoned his courage and ran to the passenger side, forced open the door and entered the car. Using all his strength he forced the seat to move enough to free the victim’s feet, grabbed him and passed him out to Lt. LaRocco. Shortly after Castellano made the rescue the Fire Department reached the scene and Engine 331 extinguished the fire. After an eight day hospital stay the victim was released. |
Anthony G. Castellano, FDNY, Brooklyn, NY |
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On
July 19, l998 Tactical Manpower Squad 5 responded to a house fire. They learned that a
child was trapped on the second floor. Firefighter Kevin Claiborne entered the house and
climbed to the second floor. Without a charged line he struggled through extreme heat and
smoke, searched and found a six month old child. The child later died. Firefighter Claiborne’s initiative and bravery under extreme heat and smoke was above and beyond the call of duty |
Kevin Claiborne, Detroit, MI FD |
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Photograph Not Available |
| Martin Fuller Montgomery County, MD Fire Rescue | Joseph Fuller Montgomery County, MD Fire Rescue |
| Upon arrival at the
incident site, it was determined that two young boys had been seen struggling in the water
and had gone under. With the small amount of water rescue safety gear that they had
assembled and brought with them, Master Firefighter Joe Fuller and Firefighter Marty
Fuller entered the cold waters of the lake to rescue the boys. A valiant effort was made to search the area of the water where bystanders said the boys were last seen. The water temperature was a frigid 57 degrees. |
Several underwater dive attempts were
made by the brothers in an effort to locate and remove the boys. Both Joe and Marty began
to exhibit signs of hypothermia and recognized their deteriorating safety. They both
reluctantly left the water and instructed incoming rescuers where they believed the boys
might be located. Fire-Rescue divers located the two boys, aged thirteen and fifteen, and removed them to the shore, where they were pronounced dead. |
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Dennis Hollow Lynn, MA FD |
John Weeks Lynn, MA FD |
| At 0240 on July 4, 1998 Rescue
1 was returning to quarters from a minor fire when it was dispatched to another alarm.
Police were reporting a fire with people still in the building. Rescue 1 was the first
company on the scene. Bystanders were screaming that two children were still in the house.
Heavy fire was showing from the first floor as the first due companies went to work. Firefighter
Dennis Hollow of Rescue 1, using full turnout gear and SCBA, but without a hoseline,
entered the building through a first floor bedroom window. Heat and smoke forced him to
crawl. Finding a bed, he swept his hand across the top and found an unconscious
four--year-old girl.
With conditions deteriorating, Hollow passed the girl out the bedroom window and left the building. The child recovered fully.
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While Hollow made his rescue, Engine 8 Firefighter John Weeks donned full turnout gear and SCBA and entered the house through the rear door. He, too, lacked a hoseline, but he crawled through heat and smoke to the bedroom, where he found an unconscious seven year old boy lying on a bed. Weeks carried the child to safety. He was revived by paramedics and transported to the hospital, where he made a full recovery. Note: We regret to announce that Firefighter Weeks died of cancer on December 30, 2000 at the age of 44. His death was ruled as line of duty because state law makes it presumptive that the cancer was job related. Firefighters Weeks and Hollow were jointly awarded the Local 739 (IAFF) Firefighter of the Year Award for 1998 in recognition of their heroism in the course of this rescue. |
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Master Firefighter
Cooley arrived as the officer in charge of the first arriving engine company at a fire in
a single family home. Flashover conditions were developing. Several children were trapped
in the basement. A tower ladder company had arrived just prior to the engine and their
crew had entered the structure without a hoseline to perform search and rescue efforts for
the trapped children. Cooley directed a hoseman to advance a line into the structure and he entered the structure himself. Under Cooley’s direction, the engine crew knocked down the fire and protected the tower crew during the rescue of the children. Cooley helped to locate one child. Because of his actions, the tower crew was able to conduct a search and rescue, and three children were located and removed. One child is alive today. |
John Cooley, Montgomery County, MD Fire & Rescue |
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| Lee Marks Teaneck, NJ FD | Robert Muhlhahn Teaneck, NJ FD |
| Rescue 1 and Tower Ladder 1 were dispatched to a fire in an apartment building on the evening of September 13, 1998. Prior to their arrival an off duty firefighter and a civilian had attempted to rescue a woman in one of the involved apartments, but were driven back by heat and smoke. The Incident Commander ordered Firefighters Marks and Muhlhahn to the second floor of the apartment building to rescue the woman. They entered without a hoseline, fought their way up the stairs and down a hallway to the fire apartment, | forced the door open, and crawled through several rooms before finding the victim in a bedroom. They dragged her out of the apartment, and back down the hall and stairway to safety. She was transported to a nearby hospital with second degree burns and smoke inhalation, spent several days in the hospital, and made a full recovery. Go to Directory at Top of this Page |
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On January 28,
1998 Engine 60 responded to a fire. On arrival Firefighter Brian Cleland was told that
several people, including three children, were trapped on the second floor.Police officers
had tried to gain entry, but were driven back by the intense heat and smoke. Without
regard for his own safety and without the protection of a hoseline, Cleland struggled
through the heat, flames, and dense black smoke. The front bedroom was totally involved in flames that extended down the hallway through which Cleland had to find his way. He found a three year old child in a rear bedroom and removed the victim by groping his way back through the heat and smoke, down the stairway to the street. Medic 15 transported the victim to St John Hospital, where the child made a full recovery. Without the efforts of Firefighter Cleland she would surely have perished. |
Brian Cleland, Detroit, MI FD |
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