Firehouse is pleased to announce the honorees in the 2015 Firehouse Magazine Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor. The honorees displayed great bravery in the face of dangerous conditions.
Joseph L. Andres
FDNY – Brooklyn
Crews arrived on the scene of a victim hanging upside-down—held by nothing more than a thin cable wire wrapped around his foot—in a shaft between the third and fourth floors of a building. Firefighter Andres, who had just gotten off probation a little more than a week earlier, was the roofman on the operation. Andres directed the aerial to the position for use as a substantial object and coordinated with other members to implement the rescue. Andres descended from the roof using a rope (through many obstacles), grabbed the victim and maintained control until the victim was inside the third-floor window.
Ryan Allen
Orange County, FL, Fire Rescue
Firefighter Allen and crewmembers were dispatched to rescue two victims in a vehicle that had run off the road and flipped upside-down in a canal. After rescuing the trapped victims, the crew was alerted to a third victim. Allen dove underwater to the submerged portion of the vehicle, found an air pocket, located the seatbelt latch to release the victim, and brought him to the surface. Crewmembers began CPR and restored vitals en route to the hospital.
Rodney L. Bolen
Prince George’s County, MD, Fire/EMS Department
While on the scene of a structure fire, Fire Captain Bolen received information about children being trapped inside the building. Without the protection of a charged handline, Bolen entered the structure and followed the sounds of coughs and cries. He found a young child, whom he brought to the porch and handed off to other personnel. He then returned inside and found a second child. After removing that child, he regrouped with his lineman and barman to assist in extinguishing the fire. Both children made a full recovery.
Paul Butrim
Baltimore City Fire Department
Firefighters responded to a fire in a three-story garden-style apartment, with thick, heavy smoke billowing from a first-floor apartment. There were reports of occupants trapped, and some civilians were jumping from the upper floors. As members of his crew began placing ground ladders for ventilation and rescue, Firefighter Butrim was ordered to search the first fire apartment. Searching ahead of the hose team, Butrim located a trapped child face down in a bedroom. Unable to call for assistance via radio, Butrim removed the victim to the exterior of the structure and began single-person CPR until the arrival of EMS.
Daniel “DJ” Collins
Morningside Volunteer Fire Department; Largo, MD
Prince George’s County firefighters and county police officers were alerted to a personal injury accident with reports of an occupant trapped in a car that was on fire. A police officer used his extended baton to open the door handle of the burning vehicle. Firefighter Collins, wearing his personal protective gear, reached into a well-involved car to grab the victim and pull him out as other crewmembers used extinguishers to knock down the fire.
Brian Croft & Efton Campbell
Village, TX, Fire Department
Driver Operator Brian Croft and Rookie Firefighter Efton Campbell arrived at a fire in a metal industrial building with reports of one person trapped. The occupant was in the front window of the building, trapped behind security bars. Using the K-12 saw, Campbell and Croft made their way to the victim. While Campbell was cutting the bars, Croft held onto the victim so he would not slip into the burning building while also providing cover from the sparks generated by the saw. Campbell and Croft were able to remove the bars and remove the victim through the tight space. They then carried the seriously injured victim to a waiting medic crew.
Robert Dunlap
Baltimore City Fire Department
While operating at a fire in a two-story storefront with fire fully involving the second floor, Engine 51, under the direction of Lt. Dunlap, was operating a hoseline on the first floor. Dunlap observed a firefighter fall through a trap door into the basement. Dunlap made his way to the basement and transmitted a mayday. He found the officer of Truck 20 lying semi-conscious on the floor and, unassisted by other members, removed the officer to the first floor where the rapid-intervention team had been deployed. The injured member made a complete recovery.
Gary Haszko
Elizabeth, NJ, Fire Department
Following an explosion and subsequent fire at a commercial structure, Captain Haszko—along with members of the Newark, NJ, Fire Department—began searching for a missing worker. They crawled through collapsed debris, tunneling toward the victim’s last known location and using temporary shoring along the way. Rescuers located the victim, who was pinned, and cut away the chair and desk to free the victim and remove him from the building. They extricated the worker, who survived and is recovering from his injuries.
Michael Hiebler
Baltimore City Fire Department
On March 21, 2015, Truck Company 10 arrived first due to find a two-story brick rowhouse with a fire in the front room. With reports of persons trapped, Acting Lieutenant Bonovich and Emergency Vehicle Driver Michael Hiebler deviated from standard operating procedure by entering the dwelling. Under adverse conditions of high heat and heavy smoke, and without the protection of a hoseline, the two members bypassed the fire located in the front room to conduct a primary search of the second floor. Hiebler entered the front bedroom under heavy smoke conditions and located an unconscious victim. Hiebler removed his facepiece to provide the victim with fresh air. Bonovich and Hiebler carried the unconscious victim down the interior stairs, still without the protection of a hoseline, passed the growing fire on the first floor, and transferred care to EMS.
Dallas Higgins & Joe Zakar
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
On Nov. 30, 2015, Engine 12 with Firefighters Dallas Higgins and Joe Zakar responded to a residential structure fire with smoke and fire coming out of all the windows and doors of the house. A woman reported that she had been babysitting three young children who were trapped in a bedroom. The attack line was not yet charged, but Higgins made the decision to go through the broken bedroom window. The smoke was intense, but he quickly found a bunk bed and determined that the child on the top bunk could not be saved. Higgins heard a moan from the bottom bunk, dropped down and felt the bed until he found a 5-year-old boy. He removed the boy and handed him out the window to Zakar. Zakar took the boy to the captain and then ran back to the window. Higgins crawled back to the bunk bed to search, but the heat and smoke was too intense and he had to retreat to the window. Zakar jumped in and searched until he found a 3-year-old girl on the floor by the bed. He passed her through the window to Higgins. Higgins suffered second-degree burns on both ears. The boy and girl survived.
Kevin Hillimann
FDNY – Bronx
FDNY crews responded to a 12-year-old stuck on the ice in the Bronx River. Donned in a cold-water rescue suit, Firefighter Hillimann maneuvered down the steep, icy, rocky terrain to the shoreline, and began breaking the ice to make his way to the victim. Once positioned five feet from the victim, Hillimann—now in neck-deep water—coordinated the ladder position, instructed the victim to crawl onto the ladder and guided the victim to another rescuer. Hillimann was treated for hypothermia.
Duane “DJ” Hull
Laurel, MD, Fire Department
While operating interior at a townhouse fire, Volunteer Chief Hull heard Captain Fletcher call out to him, saying that he had fallen waist deep into a hole on the stairs and needed help to get out. Fletcher had grabbed a “red hot” handrail to keep from falling to the floor below. Hull grabbed Fletcher by his SCBA harness and pulled him to safety.
Jesse B. Janzen
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
While operating at an apartment fire with a report of persons trapped, Firefighter Janzen heard screams from self-evacuated occupants who were indicating that an apartment on the first floor was still occupied. Janzen walked through a wall of flames, entered the apartment and was able to locate an elderly female, conscious, lying in her bed. Janzen led the woman to safety through an unburned portion of the building.
Rob Kanaga
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
Wichita crews were operating at an apartment complex fire where two apartments were being consumed by flames. Lt. Kanaga was extinguishing fire in one apartment when he was diverted to check for possible victims in another apartment. While facing intense heat, smoke and reduced visibility, Kanaga located a barely conscious person, lifted her and removed her from the apartment, where he was met by another firefighter to help exit the building.
Richard David Kiphut
Rural/Metro Fire Department – Memphis, TN
While off duty at home, Chief Kiphut was alerted to an accident at a neighbor’s pool. He jumped his neighbor’s fence and found his unconscious neighbor being held above the waterline by his daughter. After detecting that the man had no pulse, Kiphut was able to maneuver the man out of the pool, being mindful of a possible neck injury. He initiated compression-only CPR until Munford-Atoka Fire Department Brush Truck 83 arrived on scene. The man was stabilized and transported. He had broken several vertebras in his cervical spine but was fortunate to have not severed his spinal cord. The man has undergone rehabilitation and, although still recovering, is able to work again.
Tim R. Robinson
Wichita, KS, Fire Department
Wichita crews responded to a person who had fallen through the ice on a pond while trying to rescue her dog. Crews made an initial effort to rescue the struggling woman by throwing her a rope, but she was too weak and the effort was unsuccessful. Firefighter Robinson took the initiative to attach a rope to his PFD and entered the freezing water to rescue the victim. Robinson made it 30 feet from shore and, after two attempts, was able to get a rope to the victim and her dog, and then bring them to shore.
Michael J. Shepherd
FDNY – Manhattan
Following a major gas explosion at a five-story tenement nearby, off-duty Firefighter Shepherd ran to the building and encountered a major structural collapse, with smoke and fire rapidly spreading throughout the structure. Shepherd calmed a woman who was trapped on a balcony and helped her self-evacuate. Without protective gear or SCBA, Shepherd did a quick surface survey for victims. He then ascended the fire escape, checking all four floors for victims by calling into the windows. He descended the fire escape just seconds ahead of all floors lighting up into a heavy fire condition. Shepherd questioned several people and passed along information to the first-arriving FDNY units.
Jason R. Stimis
Salisbury, MD, Fire Department
Units arrived at a fully involved house fire with two female occupants on the roof. One was assisted by a civilian ladder and the second by a ladder from Engine 16. The second female relayed that there was a 2-year-old boy trapped in his upstairs bedroom. Without the protection of a hoseline and with active fire on the first floor, Firefighter/Paramedic Stimis laddered the roof near the boy's dormer, broke the window, entered the structure and removed the boy from the home. Four patients, two adults and two children, were transported, and all survived their injuries.
Nathan Tracey
Goodwill Fire Co. of York Township, PA
Station 19 was called to an injury accident. Chief Tracey went alone in the duty vehicle ahead of fire apparatus to set up Command. Upon arrival, he witnessed a car into a pole, a heavy column of black smoke, and fire at the rear of the car near the gas tank. After seeing no occupants outside the car, Chief Tracey grabbed his turnout coat to protect him from fire in case the gas tank exploded. The inside of the car was thick with smoke, and the driver could not be seen immediately. Breathing in heavy smoke he saw the driver's foot, the driver was slumped unconscious in the car. Chief Tracey pulled him out of the car and dragged him to safety.
Valor Award Honorable Mentions
William Anderson, Jr.
Christiana, DE, Fire Company
Matt Anzivino
Medway, MA, Fire & EMS
Cole Bambaugh and Jeremy Whitemore
Fayetteville, PA, Volunteer Fire Department
Bradley Bonovich
Baltimore City Fire Department
Steven Burkhart
Baltimore City Fire Department
David E. Myers
Fairfax County, VA, Fire & Rescue Department
Minh and Michelle Nguyen
Christiana, DE, Fire Company
Dave Poirier
Redondo Beach, CA, Fire Department
Scott Primrose
Fairfax County, VA, Fire & Rescue Department
Keiran Santa-Maria and Ronald Zach Jr.
Elizabeth, NJ, Fire Department
Jason Thomas
Boulder, CO, Fire-Rescue
Eric C. Villman
Fairfax County, VA, Fire & Rescue Department
