1. San Francisco Fire Department
Engine 7, Truck 7 and Rescue Squad 2
On March 11, 2015, the crews from Firehouse 7—Engine 7, Truck 7 and Rescue Squad 2—responded to a structure fire. Engine 7—Captain Eric Leal, Firefighter Saade Magaly, Firefighter/Paramedic Paul Mangiola and Probationary Firefighter Mario Riley—found a two-story Type V peaked roof residential-over-commercial structure with heavy black smoke and fire. Engine 7 deployed its 22-foot extension ladder to the second-floor window and started removing children from the window.
Truck 7—Lt. Sean Bonetti and Firefighters Chet Spirlin, Duane Rivera, Tony Rocha and Frank Wong—started laddering all windows and forcing entry for egress. Two people reported to Lt. Bonetti that there were people trapped inside. Without the protection of a hoseline, Bonetti made entry into the rear of the structure and found a resident (the mother) in the pantry area. He removed the victim from the structure and radioed to command emergency traffic of possible people trapped in the rear of the structure.
Simultaneously, Rescue Squad 2—Lt. Randy Hiro and Firefighters Victor Hurtado, John Dunn and Adam Wood—was conducting a search of the structure. Lt. Hiro and Firefighter Hurtado were removing one victim while Firefighters Wood and Dunn were continuing their search. Dunn was removing another victim and Wood was cut off from the others because the fire flashed. Without the protection of a hoseline, Wood made it to the rear of the structure and found another victim (the father). Wood made it to the back of the structure where he was met by Rivera and Wong, and they brought the patient to street level to perform CPR.
As Bonetti was making his way back to the command post, a faint scream came from the front of the liquor store. Trapped behind a locked security gate were two store employees. Firefighters Rocha and Spirlin used a rotary saw and Halligan to free the victims.
2. Virginia Task Force 1
The USA-1/VA-TF1 (Fairfax County, VA) Urban Search and Rescue Team had been deployed to Nepal following a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015. On May 12, 2015, while the team was in Kathmandu, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the region. With reports of major damage in the towns and villages in the mountains surrounding the Kathmandu valley, a three-person team from USA-1 (Technician Ryland Chapman, Master Technician Lawrence Mullin and Lieutenant Robert Garza) and a three-person team from USA-2 (Firefighter Paramedic Matthew Prasch, Firefighter Specialist Daniel McKeen and Captain Gerald Gonzales) out of Los Angeles County was flown to the town of Singati. The teams assembled victims in a casualty collection and treatment area, searched an area where there had been a landslide and responded to a building collapse to search for victims. While searching the building, Chapman located a female victim. A rescue operation commenced, and Chapman and McKeen were able to remove the woman from the building, all the while several aftershocks continued to further compromise the building’s stability. The woman was treated for significant head, pelvic and leg injuries. Once McKeen, Chapman and Mullin determined that no additional live victims were inside the building, they returned to the basecamp, where additional casualties continued to arrive. VA-TF1 was eventually able to make contact with Fire Station 21 (Fairfax County) where a message was conveyed back to USA-1’s Base of Operations. They reported that they had extricated one patient, had two critical patients, and identified the need for medical evacuation of two critical and eight non-critical patients. The information was conveyed to the USMC’s Air Operations Officer, and helicopters were tasked to the mission. Aircraft from the Indian military transported the most seriously injured from the village to a field hospital. Two USMC aircraft arrived shortly afterward and transported the rescuers and remaining victims to Tribhuvan Airport.
3. Baltimore City Fire Department
Truck 10, Rescue 1, EMS 5
On June 26, 2015, Truck 10 was faced with a major collapse of a three-story brick rowhouse with one worker trapped. The front half of all three floors collapsed in a “V” fashion. The rear half remained partially intact, hanging unstable and in danger of further collapse. Truck 10 entered the structure, located a male victim buried under a large amount of brick, plaster, roofing material and flooring, and began digging and removing material to uncover the man’s face.
EMS 5 arrived, made entry into the dwelling and assessed the victim. The victim spoke broken English, and the EMS 5 captain was able to communicate with him.
Members from Rescue 1 arrived and worked with Truck 10 to extricate the victim.
4. Fairfax County, VA, Fire Department
Engine 404, Truck 425, Rescue 439, Medic 404, Medic 431, Emergency Medical Supervisor 401
On Oct. 13, 2015, 1st Battalion units responded to a fire in a two-story townhouse with two victims possibly trapped. E404 arrived on scene first, laid a supply line and began an exterior attack on the visible fire. E439 began preparing to enter the structure with a second attack line to first serve as a backup line for E404 while the driver of E439 worked to establish a continuous water supply for E404. E425 deployed a third attack line. R439 contacted Command and reported that they had located a victim in a second-floor bedroom and that they would be removing him via the interior stairs to side A. The victim was removed through the front door by R439 onto M404’s cot. EMS401 arrived at the front of the townhouse and was assigned to assist M404 with patient care. T425 located a second victim in a second-floor bedroom, and M431 was assigned to receive the victim. The victim was passed out the window to the OIC of E425 who carried her to the base of the ladder where she was cared for by M431. Both victims survived.
5. Douglas County, OR, Fire District #2
On Oct. 1, 2015, at 10:38 a.m., Douglas County Fire District No. 2 was dispatched for an active shooter incident at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR. Initial reports were for a single victim with multiple gunshot wounds. Four chief officers responded from headquarters due to the nature of the call. The chief officers were first fire/EMS on scene at 10:49 a.m. After meeting with law enforcement at the classroom where the shooting occurred, it was determined that this was a multi-patient incident and there were approximately 20 victims. The EMS battalion chief immediately started triage, and the first two engine companies assisted her with that. A transportation division was established and had ambulances come in and bring their gurneys and gear to the area directly in front of the classroom. Patients were triaged, and the highest priority patients were brought out first, loaded and transported. In all, there were approximately 45 fire/EMS personnel in 10 ambulances, four engine companies and five chief officers, including mutual aid. Nine victims were killed, and 10 patients were transported to the hospital.
Honorable Mentions
Athens-Clarke County, GA, Fire and Emergency Services
Engine 24 and Rescue 4
Atlanta, GA, Fire Rescue Department
Truck 2, Engine 13, Engine 10, Truck 10, Squad 4, Engine 34, Battalion 1, Battalion 5
Champaign, IL, Fire Department
Engine 153
Chicago Fire Department
Ambulance 8
Chicago Fire Department
Engine 107, Ambulance 4, Paramedic Supervisor 4-5-8
Chester Heights, PA, Fire Company
City of Hudson, NY, Fire Department
Fire Dive Team
Crockery Township Fire Department – Nunica, MI
Essex Junction, VT, Fire Department
Fairfax County, VA, Fire and Rescue
Engine 414 and Rescue 414
Fairfax County, VA, Fire and Rescue
Engine 426, Engine 408, Tower Ladder 408, Rescue 426
Gantt Fire District – Greenville, SC
C-Shift
Hutchinson, KS, Fire Department
Truck 3, Truck 4
Kentland Volunteer Fire Department – Hyattsville, MD
Landover Hills, MD, Fire/EMS Department
Lugoff, SC, Fire-Rescue
Swift Water Rescue Team
Marietta, GA, Fire Department
Company 19C, Engine 4C
Marietta, GA, Fire Department
Engine 7
Murray City, UT, Fire Department
Engine 81
Nashville, TN, Fire Department
Engine 31, Medic 31
North Chicago, IL, Fire Department
Gold and Black Shift
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
Squad 1
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
Engine 8, Squad 8
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
Truck 3, Engine 9
