Careers & Education

NY Firefighters Give Retired Colleague Xmas Surprise

Dec. 26, 2019

Syracuse firefighters spent Christmas Eve with hero firefighter Andy Whipple, whose bravery was recognized after he helped save a man in a 1956 apartment fire.

By Teri Weaver

Source Syracuse Media Group, N.Y.

Syracuse, NY, firefighters spent Christmas Eve with retired firefighter Andy Whipple at the retirement where he lives.

SYRACUSE, NY—Fifty-five years ago, Andy Whipple was a firefighter assigned to Truck 8 in the city.

This Christmas Eve, a group of firefighters working Truck 8 surprised Whipple, who now lives at Loretto Health and Rehabilitation. They’d heard Whipple didn’t have any family living locally who could visit for the holidays, according to fire department spokeswoman Crystal DeStefano.

So they headed over to Loretto on Christmas Eve with presents for the former lieutenant, who once earned the Arthur Jenkins Award for helping to save a man in an apartment fire in 1956.

Syracuse firefighters spend Christmas Eve with Andy Whipple, who retired in 1976 and now lives at Loretto. Provided by Syracuse Fire Department

Whipple climbed a ladder into the second-story apartment and found a 61-year-old man unconscious. Whipple got the man to the window, and other firefighters got him out. Then Whipple collapsed. He, too, was carried out and hospitalized.

On Christmas Eve, city firefighters brought Whipple some updated firefighter gear—a knit hat and shirt. Whipple retired from the department in 1976.

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