2018 Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor $100 Winners

Firehouse is pleased to announce the honorees in the 2018 Firehouse Magazine Valor Awards. The honorees displayed great bravery in the face of dangerous conditions.

Brandon Barnes and Jeremy Menges

Wichita, KS, Fire Department

Heavy fire was showing from a dwelling when Truck 2 arrived and made entry into the home for a report of persons trapped. Firefighter Brandon Barnes initiated Vent-Enter-Search in the bedroom where the occupant was last known to be. Barnes thoroughly searched the room three times without success. Lt. Jeremy Menges entered the home to conduct searches in the hallway adjacent to the fire without the protection of a hoseline. Using a thermal imaging camera and search line, crews were able to find the occupant in a bathroom and Menges helped removed the occupant with others while Barnes helped render medical aid.

Patrick E. Barnes

Lehigh Northampton Airport Firefighters, Allentown, PA

Lt. Patrick Barnes was off duty with his son when he observed police and EMS activity on a bridge and discovered that a 15-year-old girl threatened to jump into the Lehigh River. When the teenager jumped into the river, Barnes entered the moving current without any protective gear. The teenager physically resisted his help when he got to her, but he was able to bring her under control and help her to shore. Law enforcement crews helped Barnes in removing the teenager from the water.

William Behrndt and Daniel Chapman

Lionville, PA, Fire Company

The Chester County Rescue Taskforce (CCRTF) was called to assist the Honey Brook Fire Company with the rescue of a 3-year-old boy who fell into a manure pit in a family barn. Lt. Will Behrndt and Firefighter Danny Chapman responded with the Lionville Fire Company as part of the CCRTF and developed a rescue plan with crews already on scene. Crews set up air monitoring, ventilation and rigging allowing Behrndt and Chapman to enter the pit and create a surface that rescuers could work from. They crawled more than 50 feet to find the boy and packaged him for removal from the pit.

Bryant Cunningham and Nicholas Long

St. Louis Fire Department

Truck 17 firefighters Bryant Cunningham and Nicholas Long conducted door-to-door searches under heavy smoke conditions on the second floor of a boarding home. When the two forced entry into the fire room and began a primary search, they encountered limited visibility and high heat. Long located an occupant trapped under debris. The two cleared the debris from the occupant and removed them from the building where Long began using a bag valve mask to aid in resuscitation efforts.

Fernando DeLima and Carmine Martignetti

Irvington, NJ, Fire Department

When a lieutenant and firefighter got disoriented and ran out of air while searching a two-story building, they called a mayday, requesting crews “please help.” Capt. Fernando DeLima and Lt. Carmine Martignetti were operating on the interior and were able to hear the missing members’ PASS alarms despite fireground noises. They followed the audible and forced an interior door to locate the two members. They removed them from the building and the two disoriented members were transported to the hospital with smoke inhalation and thermal burns.

Joshua F. Edelman and Ronald R. Rosser

San Francisco Fire Department

Arriving at an early morning fire, the crew from Truck 3 was assigned to search for a missing occupant on the fourth floor of a multiple occupancy building. Without the protection of a hoseline, Lt. Ronald Rosser and Firefighter Joshua Edelman made entry into the room of origin and used a right-hand search along the wall but learned that the occupant had made it safely to the balcony. Rapid changes in fire conditions trapped all three on the balcony until Truck 2’s aerial ladder was extended to them and Edelman and Rosser helped the occupant down the ladder. They returned to the fire apartment to conduct searches.

Robert Lehman and Derek Spitaleri

Lynn, MA, Fire Department

Lynn Ladder 1 arrived to find rapidly deteriorating conditions and were informed that someone was trapped on the third floor of a three-story building. Ascending to the third floor through challenging smoke conditions, Firefighter/Paramedics Robert Lehman and Derek Spitaleri searched below heavy fire conditions in blinding smoke. The two searched until they found the unconscious female and they carried her to safety. She was transported to the hospital with serious injuries but survived.

William Maddox

Chesapeake, VA, Fire Department

When Chesapeake firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke issuing from a two-story home, they were told that the four children already had been rescued by neighbors and that no one else was inside. The frantic parents of a 6-month-old came home and told firefighters that their toddler was still trapped inside. Firefighter-EMT William Maddox encountered punishing conditions and searched through heavy smoke conditions to find the unresponsive toddler in a baby seat. He carried the child through the burning home and handed them off to waiting EMS crews. The child was listed in critical condition and later recovered from injuries.

Scott Mathews and Zach Panzarella

Paterson, NJ, Fire Department

Firefighter Zach Panzarella was in the rear of an ambulance tending to a female who was in active labor when the ambulance was struck and flipped onto the driver’s side. Firefighter Scott Mathews climbed from the cab and opened the rear door of the ambulance to find the newborn in the arms of his father. The mother gave birth as the collision occurred. Mathews and Panzarella retrieved the childbirth kit, clamped and cut the umbilical cord and suctioned the infant before handing it over to the father to care for the mother who was still strapped into the stretcher. Once the newborn and mom were transported, the two firefighters were evaluated for injuries.

Jerome S. McIntee III

Clay County, FL, Fire Rescue

Lt. Jerome McIntee was off duty when he noticed two cars in a retention pond along Interstate 95 in St. John’s County, FL. Both vehicles—located 50 and 100 feet from shore—were occupied. McIntee swam to the closest vehicle and pulled the driver, who was unable to swim, from the vehicle that sank moments later. He helped the driver back to shore.

Andrew Morie and Joseph Nea

St. Louis Fire Department

While forcing entry into a large single-family dwelling with fire showing from the second floor, a man told firefighters that his grandson was still inside on the second floor. Without a hoseline in place, Firefighters Joseph Nea and Andrew Morie immediately ascended to the second floor where they encountered heavy smoke and elevated temperatures. As they crawled down the hallway, flames were visible overhead when Nea located the child. The firefighters backed down the hallway as crews began getting water on the fire. Nea removed the child from the structure and turned him over to crews who began medical treatment.

Daniel Ramos

Chicago Fire Department

While working to force entry on the rear door at a structure fire with people trapped, Firefighter/EMT Daniel Ramos was made aware that it was obstructed by a victim. Ramos maneuvered his SCBA to slim down his profile and entered what was the fire room. With intense heat conditions and zero visibility, he located the victim, moved them from the door and created an opening large enough to remove the victim from the fire room. He removed the victim down the stairs and began treatment.

Russell L. Poe

Prince George’s County, MD, Fire/EMS Department

Firefighters from Silver Hill Fire/EMS Station 829 encountered heavy smoke in the area before finding a two-story dwelling on fire. Captain Russell Poe accessed the second floor without a hoseline to conduct searches following a report of entrapment and heard muffled screaming. Searching in dense smoke, Poe located a woman in severe respiratory distress and her 2-year-old daughter. He shut the door to protect the occupants and removed his SCBA facepiece to share his air with them. Additional crews arrived at the room and helped Poe remove them to safety through the smoke-filled home.

Dylan Sharp

DC Fire and EMS Department

As Firefighter/Paramedic Dylan Sharp was helping his engine crew get a hoseline stretched at a working fire in a two-story home, he spotted a person trapped in a second-floor room. Sharp retrieved a portable ladder from the pumper, placed it to a second-floor window and assisted the person to safety and then became aware that others were trapped. He ascended the ladder again to rescue a second person and their dog. The third victim was in a wheelchair and, with assistance from crews from Truck 17 and Engine 10, he brought the third person down the ladder.