Stephen Bauer
Poughkeepsie, NY, Fire Department
The Poughkeepsie Fire Department responded to a fire in a 2½-story wood-frame house with possible persons trapped. While searching for occupants, Lt. (now Capt.) Stephen Bauer and Firefighter Paul Bucher found the room of origin. While waiting for the hoseline to enter the room, Bauer heard a female voice call out, “Help me, I'm on fire.” Bauer entered the room, located the victim on the bed and removed her from the room. During this process, he received first- and second-degree burns to his hands due his gloves coming off while pulling the victim from the bed. Bauer transferred the victim to waiting firefighters and then directed the hose team to extinguish the fire.
Jeff Beach
DC Fire and EMS Department
While off duty and traveling in his personal vehicle, Firefighter-EMT Jeff Beach witnessed a vehicle accident on Martin Luther King Highway in Lanham, MD. Beach rushed to the scene and found a woman trapped inside her overturned vehicle. He used a pocket knife to cut through the windshield and discovered that the woman’s arm had been amputated below the elbow. Beach used his belt as a tourniquet, an action that arriving paramedics credited with saving the woman’s life and, ultimately, her arm.
DeAngelo Bunch and Ashley Johnson
DC Fire and EMS Department
Engine 23 responded to a report of an unconscious person on the platform in the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. While crewmembers assessed the patient, a male subject under the influence tumbled into the track bed. Firefighters Deangelo Bunch and Ashley Johnson rushed to either end of the platform to hit the blue light stations to kill third-rail power, but the platform warning lights began to flash, signaling the approach of an oncoming train. Bunch and Johnson leapt down onto the track bed, placed the man in a two-person carry and raised him high enough so Capt. Jack Adams and a bystander could lift him onto the platform. Bunch and Johnson exited the track bed and began providing care to the two patients.
David DiMaggio and Sean Cardio
Chicago Fire Department
Tower Ladder 34 was dispatched to a three-story building with moderate smoke and fire venting out the rear of the structure. Upon arrival, Capt. David DiMaggio and Firefighter Sean Cardio heard screams coming from the basement, which was padlocked from the outside. A trapped victim slid a key out to unlock the door and escape. DiMaggio and Claudio then began a primary search through zero visibility. The basement was filled with clutter, making it extremely difficult and dangerous. With the heat becoming unbearable, they located and rescued an unconscious victim. The victim survived.
Thomas Fuchsgruber
Chicago Fire Department
Engine 80 responded to a still-and-box alarm with multiple reports of civilians trapped in a two-story building. Under intense heat and smoke conditions, Lt. Thomas Fuchsgruber led his company to the seat of the fire. After his company was in position to control the fire, Fuchsgruber heard calls for help coming from the second floor. Without a charged line in place, Fuchsgruber started a search of the second floor and found a 71-year-old woman trapped in a bathroom. Fuchsgruber removed the victim, who was treated by EMS.
Brian Kalb and John Culver
DC Fire and EMS Department
Responding to a box alarm, Truck 2 arrived to find the entryway and hallway of a home engulfed in fire, with bystanders shouting that there were people still trapped inside. There was no time to wait for a hoseline, so Lt. Brian Kalb and Firefighter-EMT John Culver dashed through the flames and found a burned victim inside the blazing hallway. Culver removed the victim back through the entry door to safety. Kalb went upstairs to the second floor where he found two other trapped occupants. Kalb brought the two to a window to go down a fire escape.
Frank Kaufmann
Chicago Fire Department
Squad 1 responded to a working fire in a two-story rowhouse with heavy fire showing and reports of possible victims trapped on the second floor. During a left-handed search of the second floor, Firefighter Frank Kaufmann entered a bedroom filled with furniture and clutter and ultimately located a victim between the wall and the bed frame. Kaufmann radioed the location of the victim and that he was removing the victim to Side A. Kaufmann dragged the victim 40 feet through high heat and zero visibility toward the stairs, where he was met up by the lieutenant, who assisted him with the removal. The victim was turned over to EMS.
James J. McConville
FDNY – Bronx
Ladder 39 arrived to a heavily involved fire in a 2½-story private dwelling. Firefighter James McConville and Firefighter Erick Lubniewski set up a portable ladder to remove a woman on the roof of the front porch. The woman said her grandmother was still inside. Without the protection of a hoseline, McConville entered different windows to search. After a negative search of a bedroom and bathroom, McConville entered another bedroom, where he came across a lifeless body on the bed. McConville removed the victim to the doorway where he met up with Lubniewski who assisted with removal. McConville and Lubniewski dragged the victim to the top of the staircase. Engine 63 knocked down the fire that had extended up the staircase, and McConville and Lubniewski were able to remove the victim and transfer her to medical resources.
James McCubbin
Black Rock City, NV, Volunteer Fire Department
Firefighters James McCubbin and Mona Kronberg were staged on the 12 o’clock side of the “Man” structure at the annual Burning Man event in Black Rock City. Their role was to protect the participants in the event of unexpected collapse trajectories and to extricate a participant should they get too close to the fire. The Man structure collapsed as expected with no danger to the participants. However, a participant then ran straight into the fire and immediately collapsed. McCubbin ran after him into the fire and pulled him out far enough for Kronberg to help pull the man to a spot where he could be safely treated by on-site medical personnel. The participant was transported for further treatment and later died. Despite being in full protective gear, McCubbin suffered burns to his face.
John McPartland
Christiana, DE, Fire Company
Engine 12 arrived on the scene of a two-story townhouse fire to find smoke showing from all floors. A woman approached Assistant Chief John McPartland and stated that her 16-year-old daughter was trapped inside. As the attack line was charged and started to move into positon to attack the fire, McPartland went to the second floor where he located an unconscious female. In zero visibility conditions, McPartland removed the victim to the first floor where he was assisted by members of Squad 6, the second-due engine and Ladder 12’s inside team. Ladder 12’s outside team performed CPR and regained a pulse. The crew then ventilated the patient and transported her to Christiana Hospital Trauma Center.
Daniel Moore
Gwinnett County, GA, Fire & Emergency Services
Firefighter/EMT Daniel Moore was off duty when he was alerted to a motor vehicle accident near his home. Two men attempting to re-hitch a trailer to their truck had been struck from behind and were pinned. One was bleeding profusely and had lost his right leg, while the other had a broken arm. Knowing he had to stop the life-threatening bleeding, Moore found a rope to use as a tourniquet and guided a bystander to hold it tight while he performed head-to-toe assessments on both patients. When medical units arrived, Moore helped the medics package the patients for transport to the hospital.
Michael E. Murphy
FDNY – Brooklyn
Ladder 148 and Engine 282 responded to a report of fire on the second floor of a four-story, non-fireproof building. The fire was pushing through the wrought-iron door of apartment 2C. As the door gave way, Firefighter Michael E. Murphy moved in and used his extinguisher on the fire, followed by Engine 282, which then moved in with the hoseline. Murphy located an unconscious victim in the far rear bedroom, more than 30 feet from the front entrance. He carried the victim approximately 24 feet when he was met by another firefighter who assisted in the removal.
John O’Brien and Eric Claudio
Chicago Fire Department
Lt. John O’Brien and Firefighter Eric Claudio entered a three-story ordinary constructed building under heavy smoke and fire conditions on the first and second floors to conduct a primary search and rescue. With zero visibility, they crawled up the main stairway entrance to the dining room area where they found an unconscious male victim. As the fire grew in intensity, O’Brien and Claudio worked in tandem to drag the victim through hostile fire conditions approximately 20–25 feet out of the fire building to safety. O’Brien and Claudio performed CPR until patient care was transferred to Ambulance 52.
Sergio Porrata
Houston Fire Department
Firefighters were dispatched to an unknown problem. When they arrived, a shirtless man with a knife charged at a firefighter. When the man spotted a woman on the other side of the street, he threatened to kill her and began to move in her direction. As he crossed the street behind the engine, Firefighter Sergio Porrata grabbed an axe, ran around the engine and struck the man with the handle side of the axe, knocking the knife out of his hand. Several firefighters then tackled the man and restrained him until the police arrived.
Andres Ruiz
Carlsbad, NM, Fire Department
Acting Lt. Andres Ruiz discovered heavy smoke and fire conditions on the second floor of a four-unit apartment building. Bystanders notified him that the occupant of the involved apartment was blind and believed to still be inside. Ruiz and Firefighter Timothy Brighton conducted VEIS through the second-floor bedroom window. In heavy smoke conditions and near-zero visibility, they found the occupant, unconscious but still breathing, on the bedroom floor. Ruiz and Brighton were successful in removing the occupant from the apartment, where he was then transported to the hospital by EMS.
James Sewnig
Chicago Fire Department
Squad 5 was tasked with searching the first and second floors at a fire in a two-story building with heavy fire in the basement. Firefighter James Sewnig began his primary search, working his way through the living room and dining room areas in zero visibility. He located a 16-year-old victim in the first-floor bedroom and, with assistance from another firefighter, carried her 25 feet to the front porch. Sewnig, along with other members of Squad 5, opened the victim’s airway, started chest compressions and provided air from an SCBA. The victim began to breathe on her own and was transferred to a stretcher for continued treatment and eventual transport to a hospital. The victim survived.
William Sigafoos, Jr.
Norfolk, VA, Fire-Rescue
Norfolk Fire-Rescue companies were dispatched for a water rescue with multiple people in distress in the Chesapeake Bay. Capt. William Sigafoos and Norfolk Police Officer David Dubas donned life jackets and swam out to three people in distress. Sigafoos reached a 15-year-old victim who was exhausted and unable to stay above the water. Dubas reached the other two and kept them above water. A U.S. Coast Guard boat arrived and pulled Dubas and his two survivors on board. Sigafoos, with his exhausted victim in tow, swam all the way back to shore. The patient was transported to the hospital and survived.
Kyle Teitsort
Saint Louis, MO, Fire Department
A first-alarm assignment was initiated for a reported house fire with a person trapped. Firefighter Kyle Teitsort heard the victim calling out for help, but was unable to see him due to extreme smoke conditions. Teitsort proceeded in the direction of the victim, crawling through intense heat and smoke, and was quickly able to locate the victim on the bed in the smoke-filled room. He fought through the extreme heat and smoke and was able to get the victim to the stairs where he was met by firefighters from other arriving units, who assisted with removing the victim from the structure.
John Ashley Worley
New Hope Fire Department – Belmont, NC
Capt. John A. Worley and Firefighter Jeff Young arrived first on scene to find a well involved fire in a single-family dwelling. Young fell through the floor and became trapped in the burning debris in a crawlspace. With conditions in the crawlspace rapidly deteriorating and the fire volume increasing, Worley attempted to remove Young but quickly determined that Young’s SCBA was ensnared. Worley pushed down on the SCBA, forcing it free and allowing him to pull Young out. Worley then dragged Young out of the house to other personnel where he was assessed and treated for his injuries.
Luigi Gerardo Young
Tampa, FL, Fire Rescue
While off duty, Firefighter Luigi Young was alerted to a fire in his neighbor’s house. He entered the burning structure without any safety equipment, but couldn’t find his neighbor. Young exited, but other neighbors insisted the homeowner was still inside. He re-entered, found the man, threw him over his shoulder and brought him out to safety. Young then re-entered to search for the owner’s dogs, but was forced to exit due to worsening conditions. When Hillsborough County Fire Rescue arrived, Young provided a full size-up and even secured a hydrant for water. When firefighters brought the dogs out, Young performed CPR on the dogs.
Valor Honorable Mentions
Christopher Anderson and Michael Varela Jr.
Galveston, TX, Fire Department
Elliot B. English and Jay Hynson
King George, VA, Department of Fire Rescue & Emergency Services
Jonathan Formby
Dallas Fire-Rescue Department
William Gressen
Prince George's County, MD, Fire/EMS Department
Chris Harrison
Galveston, TX, Fire Department
Paul Harto
City of Wheeling, WV, Fire Department
Kristopher Eric Kopkins
Middletown, RI, Fire Department
Scott Mistrot
Jefferson County Emergency Services District #3 – China, TX
Douglas Novogrodsky
Lakeland, FL, Fire Department
Lt. Bryce Peoples
San Francisco Fire Department
Timothy Sanders
Chicago Fire Department
Samuel Short and Steven Schlegel
DC Fire and EMS Department
Richard Stack
Chicago Fire Department
Tom Webb
Burton Fire District – Beaufort, SC
