We are pleased to announce the newest honorees in our 2014 Firehouse Magazine Heroism Awards program. All displayed great bravery in the face of dangerous conditions.
We would like to thank the judges: Deputy Chief William Goldfeder of the Loveland-Symmes, OH, Fire Department; Deputy Chief John B. Tippett, Jr. of the Charleston, SC, Fire Department; Assistant Chief Brian Fennessy of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department; and Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer of the Spokane, WA, Fire Department. We also thank retired FDNY Rescue 1 Firefighter Paul Hashagen, who administers the program.
#4: Captain/EMT Michael Scarnavark
Chicago Fire Department, Battalion 22
On April 15, 2014, Captain Scarnavark, commanding Engine 62, responded to a reported structure fire with fire on the first floor of a two-story building on Chicago’s southeast side. The Office of Emergency Management notified Engine 62 of a report of people trapped on the second floor. Upon arrival, Scarnavark ordered his members to lead out to the first floor to begin fire attack. He then entered the structure to begin a search of the stairwell leading to the second floor. At the top of the stairwell, under extreme heat and dense smoke conditions, he located an unconscious adult female. He removed her to the first floor and passed her to awaiting medical personnel. He then made a second attempt to the second floor but was forced to retreat due to deteriorating conditions. Scarnavark sustained injuries while making his way to safety and was removed from the structure by fire personnel. Scarnavark’s actions saved the life of the trapped female.
#5: Probationary Firefighter Justin L. Tallett
Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY), Ladder 107
On July 29, 2014, Ladder 107 arrived at four-story apartment building to find two children trapped behind a child gate as smoke poured out from around them. As Probationary Firefighter Tallett worked with the inside team to find the fire apartment, the outside crew rescued the two children who told firefighters that their brother and sister were still trapped inside the top-floor apartment. Fire engulfed the living room at the front of the apartment as Ladder 107 split up to search the apartment. After depleting the 2½-gallon water extinguisher he carried inside, Tallett crawled past the fire to the rear bedroom and searched a crib and bed, where he felt something unusual. He pulled the sheets back, revealing an unconscious 3-year-old boy. Despite hoselines not being in position, Tallett was able to shield the child from the intense heat as he crawled back past the fire to the apartment door. He took the child to the third floor where he was relieved by EMS crew and returned to continue searches. The female who was also reported missing was not home at the time.
Pass It Forward Alert: In recognition of next-generation firefighters, with guidance from those who came before them, we spotlight Probationary Firefighter Tallett, who handled this fire with the confidence and vigor of a seasoned firefighter.
#6: Firefighter First Class Jermaine Woods
Providence, RI, Fire Department, Engine 14
On Nov. 5, 2014, while off-duty at a relative's house in Pawtucket, RI, Firefighter Woods heard an explosion and went outside to see a nearby three-story house engulfed in flames with debris littering the street. Woods could see tenants on the third floor. A first-floor tenant unlocked a door for Woods that would allow him access to the apartments above. Woods made his way up the stairs and found a man with severe burns and in a state of shock. Woods led the man downstairs and left him in the care of the first-floor tenant who helped remove the man from the building. Woods ran back up the stairs to the third floor, where he found a woman and her 9-month-old infant. Woods wrapped them in his sweatshirt and led them to safety. As the Pawtucket fire and police departments arrived on scene, Woods handed off the couple and the infant to them and informed them that he believed all occupants had been evacuated from the building.
#7: Firefighter Thomas Christensen
Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY), Ladder 80
On May 26, 2014, Ladder 80 arrived at a Staten Island multiple dwelling fire where one person had already jumped from the second-story window that was now filled with flames. When the inside team of Lt. Gonzalez and Firefighters Carrier and Christensen arrived outside the fire apartment, a neighbor told the crew that someone was still trapped inside. Lt. Gonzalez went left while Christensen went right, crawling over debris while flames rolled over the ceiling above them. Twenty feet inside the apartment, Christensen located an unconscious victim and notified his crew. Heavy fire, fed by an open window, was rolling out over his head. He placed himself between the fully involved bedroom and the victim to shield them from intense heat. Staying low, he began the arduous effort of dragging the victim 20 feet back over the debris to the front door of the apartment where he was assisted by Gonzalez and Carrier.
#8: Firefighter Clint Mueller
Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY), Ladder 47
On Feb. 13, 2014, the crew from Ladder 47 arrived to a mid-morning fire in a three-story dwelling where they heard screams from a balcony, but heavy smoke obscured the victims. With power lines blocking access to the building, Firefighter Mueller teamed up with Firefighter Anthony Reynolds to throw a 35-foot portable ladder to the fire escape where he tried to calm the three adults and two children who were in a panicked state. At that time, crews on the interior were forced to evacuate the second floor due to wind-driven fire conditions. When Ladder 47’s aerial was placed to the fire escape, Mueller handed a 5-year-old to an awaiting firefighter. As he passed another child to a firefighter on the ladder, heavy fire started venting from the second-floor window, threatening Mueller and the remaining victims. He then placed an 85-year-old invalid on the ladder where Ladder 47’s chauffeur had placed a Stokes basket. As fire continued to shoot from the second-floor window, Mueller helped the last two access the ladder and they retreated to the ground.
#9: Firefighter Jordan Sullivan
Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY), Ladder 105
On March 16, 2014, Ladder 105 was returning from a previous emergency when they received the alarm indicating a fire with reports of children in an apartment. A civilian still inside the building indicated that the fire was in an apartment on the fifth floor. Ladder 105 proceeded to the fire apartment, where they were met with high-heat and zero-visibility conditions. Firefighter Sullivan knocked down visible fire in the apartment hallway, and then he and two others searched past this area without the protection of a charged hoseline. The main body of fire was located in a bedroom, and Sullivan emptied what was left of his extinguisher battling this area of the fire. Crewmembers then rapidly searched the area, where Sullivan located a baby in a crib. He removed the baby from the apartment and transferred the boy to EMS. Sullivan then rejoined the search and located an 8-year-old female. The baby survived.
Pass It Forward Alert: In recognition of next-generation firefighters, with guidance from those who came before them, we spotlight Firefighter Sullivan. This incident was his first working fire as a member of a company assigned on the first alarm, which only adds to the magnitude of his actions.
#10: Lieutenant Robert Whelan
Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY), Engine 257
On Nov. 25, 2014, Engine 257 arrived on the scene of a fire with heavy fire showing from the front windows on the second floor. Engine 283 was stretching a hoseline into the building, while civilians screamed that a child was trapped in the apartment. Ladder 174 arrived and began its search, heading to the front room, where the victim’s mother said her child was. Lieutenant Whelan began searching toward the rear as Engine 283’s line advanced toward the front to extinguish the fire. Whelan experienced high heat and zero visibility conditions while making his way through a kitchen and hallway area leading to the back of the apartment. After hearing that the child was suspected to be in the middle of the occupancy, he moved back in that direction and saw fire advancing up the kitchen cabinets and rolling across the ceiling. He notified Engine 283 that they had fire behind them. With no signs of the child in the front, Whelan headed back toward the rear of the apartment where he found the boy unresponsive in a bedroom. He picked up the boy, felt his way toward the exit stairs and handed the boy to another firefighter at the stairway landing. The 6-year-old child was treated on scene by EMS and taken to a hospital. He was transferred to a hyperbaric chamber for treatment of smoke inhalation and survived.
