The Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor recognizes acts of courage and bravery, including physical acts to rescue a victim in hazardous conditions as well as critical decisions or preventive actions that ensured civilian or firefighter safety. The award is named after Worcester, MA, Fire Department District Chief (ret.) Mike McNamee, who displayed remarkable courage when he made the bold decision to stop additional firefighters from entering the building when there were already six lost inside the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire in December 1999.
Firehouse would like to thank the following members for their assistance in selecting this year’s recipients:
- Mike McNamee, district chief (ret.), Worcester, MA, Fire Department
- Paul Bourgeois, fire chief, Superstition Fire & Medical District, AZ
- Billy Goldfeder, deputy chief, Loveland-Symmes, OH, Fire Department
- Brian Schaeffer, assistant chief, Spokane, WA, Fire Department
- John B. Tippett, Jr., interim fire chief, Charleston, SC, Fire Department
1. James P. Lee, Jr.
Fire Department City of New York (FDNY) – Manhattan
On Oct. 27, 2016, at approximately 3:30 a.m., crews were assigned to a fire in a five-story multiple dwelling. Firefighter James P. Lee, Jr., Rescue 1, made his way to the roof via exposure 2 and observed fire blowing out of the shaft, with the roof and bulkhead of exposure 4 on fire.
Conditions were deteriorating when Lee heard a radio report that a civilian had shown at a top-floor window. Rescue 1’s chauffeur, Firefighter Francis Rush, told the elderly male to stay in the window, then gave Lee the location of the trapped man and said a lifesaving rope (LSR) rescue would be required.
Lee established contact with the victim, as heavy smoke vented out over the man’s head. Lee radioed Battalion Chief James W. Manning, Battalion 10, that there was a victim trapped and a rescue was being set up.
Moving in line with the victim, Lee dumped the LSR bag and handed the hook to Ladder 43’s chauffeur, Firefighter Andrew Hawkins, who tied the rope to a short chimney. Lee ran the rope under the fence and back over the top where he attached it to his harness. Unbearable conditions forced the victim to disappear from the window a few times. Rush told the man to stay at the window. The victim stated he was within seconds of jumping.
Once Hawkins was anchored to the chimney and took his four wraps on his rappel hook, Lee climbed over the fence and positioned himself to be lowered to the victim. The victim’s yells served as a beacon for Lee, who operated in zero visibility. Rush directed Lee to the victim’s window. The man was crouched below the windowsill with fire lapping out over his head.
Using all his strength, Lee reached into the window and got one arm around the victim’s back and one under his knees. The man could not hold onto Lee due to cuts and burns to his hands and arms. While not the conventional way in which a victim is removed when performing this evolution, Lee worked to save this victim from certain death.
Once the victim cleared the window, the momentum rotated Lee 180 degrees, so his back was against the building. Rush ordered the resumption of lowering Lee and the victim. Lee used his legs to kick off the building to avoid being hung up on parts of the rear wall, while cradling the weight of the man in his arms. The LSR began to burn as Lee and the victim reached the third floor.When they reached the ground safely, the LSR burned through and fell to the ground.
Firefighters Lee and Rush carried the man through exposure 4 to the front of the fire building where he was handed off to EMS personnel.
2. Joseph P. McConnell
FDNY – Bronx
On Feb. 7, 2016, Ladder 42 members were on their way back to quarters when they were alerted to smoke issuing from a second-floor window at the six-story, Class 1, occupied multiple dwelling. As Firefighter Stephen W. Hopkins positioned the apparatus, Captain Joseph P. McConnell donned his PPE and entered the lobby of the fire building with his inside team—Firefighter Donal F. Finnegan with the irons and Thomas E. Morrison with the extinguisher. Fleeing occupants reported that the fire was in apartment 2J and that numerous people were trapped. McConnell and his team ascended the stairs to the second floor to find a heavy smoke condition. Despite blackout conditions and searing heat, the three men quickly located the fire apartment and began their search. Morrison found the main body of fire in a bedroom and tried to contain it by closing the door to the room. As McConnell ordered Morrison to use the extinguisher to contain the fire, Firefighter Sean M. Heater, the outside vent firefighter, transmitted a 10-45 for a victim in a rear bedroom. Crawling past the fire himself, McConnell found a locked door and kicked it open. Crawling on his stomach, McConnell located a young male located between the bathtub and sink. McConnell removed the child to the apartment hallway where he was assisted by Morrison. The two shielded the victim from the now-uncontrolled fire, and removed him through the public hallway and down the stairs to a waiting EMS unit.
3. Leroy Lopez
City of Riverside, CA, Fire Department
On Dec. 8, 2016, at 12:20 a.m., the City of Riverside Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a 16-story senior apartment complex. Heavy smoke and fire was showing from a single unit on the 10th floor, lapping up to the 11th floor. Numerous residents were trapped on balconies on the 10th floor and above, and were flashing lights to get firefighters’ attention. The first-arriving crews made their way up 10 flights of stairs and entered a hallway filled with smoke. Three of those firefighters made access to an apartment on the 10th floor adjacent to the room of origin. Firefighter Leroy Lopez found an elderly female on the floor next to her bed. As the three firefighters were removing the victim from the apartment, a flashover occurred. Two of the firefighters made their way to safety, while Lopez placed the resident below the thermal balance below the smoke inversion layer to aid in her survivability. He then used his body to shield the woman from the heat and smoke, and dragged her approximately 15 feet to the stairwell, where the rest of the crew was waiting to remove the victim.
