2018 Michael O. McNamee Award of Valor - Top Winners

Firefighter Brian S. Foley was assigned to the forcible entry position on Ladder 26 when he arrived at a fire on the 29th floor of a 35-story residential high-rise. After ascending to the 29th floor, Foley and Firefighter George Diaz forced entry into the apartment as an occupant yelled that her family was trapped inside. As smoke and intense heat filled the hallway, Foley began searching the apartment and passed the fully involved living room where he found an unconscious male. With help from Lt. Darryl A. Williams (see second place winner), they dragged the male back to the front door where Diaz was banging on the door to help orient the pair. Foley returned to his search, again crawling past the fire, and located a 4-year-old girl. Using his body, he shielded the young girl from heavy fire conditions and carried her out of the apartment and down to the 28th floor where a crew took over patient care. Fighting exhaustion, Foley continued search efforts and heard over the radio that Williams found three additional victims. He was handed a child suffering respiratory distress and shielded them from fire conditions as he carried them to safety.

2. Darryl A. Williams, FDNY – Manhattan

With fire burning on the 29th floor of a 35-story apartment, Lt. Darry A. Williams and Firefighter Brian S. Foley (first place winner) began searching the fire apartment for known victims with a thermal imaging camera. After hearing Foley’s radio traffic, Williams helped carry that victim to safety and returned to the fire area. Williams crawled past the fire to the rear to search the bedrooms and had to reduce his SCBA to a low profile to access a bedroom where a bunk bed blocked the door. Searching another bedroom, Williams crawled through a small space at the foot of the bed and found a pregnant female, an 8-year-old female and a 4-year-old male against a window gasping for air. Williams passed the 4-year-old on to Foley and then dragged the woman and 8-year-old down the hallway, shielding them from the still growing fire before a hoseline was placed into operation. Williams brought them to the hallway where additional crews took over patient care.

3. Joshua M. Fentress and Mitchell E. Riley, Virginia Beach, VA, Fire Department

Just before 2 a.m., Engine 7 arrived to find heavy fire engulfing the front of a mobile home with police officers pointing to a window where children were supposed to be located. A neighbor had already rescued a 7-year-old. Firefighter Mitchell E. Riley climbed a step ladder and tried to locate anyone inside the room. Capt. Joshua M. Fentress requested a hoseline through the front of the structure and ordered Riley to conduct a Vent-Enter-Search effort. Riley searched low, beneath intense heat and blinding smoke and found a 2-year-old female and returned to the window while passing her to Fentress. Riley continued search efforts and located a 5-year-old male and moved back to the window as temperatures in the roam soared. He handed the male out to Fentress. Riley dove out of the window just as the room flashed over and became engulfed in flames. With both children in cardiac arrest, Riley drove one of the ambulances to the hospital to allow medics to focus on patient care.

4. Patrick T. Mataraza, III, FDNY – Bronx

Ladder 56 arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the fourth floor of a five-story multiple dwelling with residents fleeing down fire escapes. While Ladder 38’s crew forced entry into the structure, Lt. Patrick Mataraza looked inside and saw heavy fire coming from a first-floor apartment and traveling up the building’s only stairwell, trapping occupants on upper floors. Mataraza decided to use the fire escape to access the second floor and was cut off from his crew as residents fled down the fire escape he used. He accessed the second-floor hallway where he found heavy fire conditions. He engaged the deadbolt on the apartment door should he need to return to an area of refuge. Without a hoseline in place, Mataraza made three attempts to crawl down the super-heated hallway before gaining access to the apartment above the fire where he found flames already extending into the second-floor unit. Mataraza conducted a search and found an unconscious mother and child. He pulled them both through the apartment to the front door and, as crews radioed that water was on the fire downstairs, he shielded the child from the intense heat and carried her down the interior stairwell to a crew that administered first aid. He returned to the second floor and helped his crew remove the woman from the apartment and continued search efforts as conditions worsened. He found a third victim and received assistance from another firefighter removing them to the first floor.

5. Jeff Scire, DC Fire and EMS Department

Firefighter Technician Jeff Scire was off duty when he heard a report of a house fire less than a mile from his home in Frederick County, MD, where he also serves as a volunteer firefighter. He arrived quickly and a woman said her 87-year-old husband was trapped in the basement workshop where the fire started. Entering the front door of the home, Scire encountered heavy smoke that prevented him from accessing the man. He found another entryway and pulled his shirt over his face to shield him from the choking smoke as he descended the basement stairs into high heat conditions. Scire found the man, who was suffering critical burns, and dragged him to the exterior before firefighters arrived. The man was transported to the burn center by medevac.

6. Andrew “Andy” Rupp, Montecito, CA, Fire Department 

Following the devastating Thomas Fire, Montecito suffered a catastrophic debris flow. Fire Paramedic Andrew Rupp was assigned to Engine 317 for search and rescue efforts in the Hot Springs/Olive Mill area where multiple homes were swept away by millions of yards of debris, boulders and vegetation. Power lines were tangled in the debris and high-pressure gas lines were ruptured filling the air with gas and creating a deafening roar. The crew heard a 14-year-old female’s faint cry from a debris pile, despite the chaos, and began removing the debris by hand because of the gas-rich atmosphere. Rupp was the first to make contact with the teenager, trapped 10 feet deep in the debris and promised the panicked female he would stay with her until she was rescued. Rupp initiated tunneling efforts toward her as the debris flow posed continuous challenges. For an hour, Rupp dug by hand and was able to make physical contact with the teenager to reassure that help was there. Rupp continued to remove debris and found her ankle was trapped. He was able to free her ankle and remove her from the debris.

7. Akira Rodriguez, FDNY – Queens

Heavy smoke was pushing from second-story windows in a three-story attached home when Ladder 154 arrived at 12:01 a.m. with bystanders telling firefighters children were trapped inside. The crew gained access to the second floor via the interior stairwell and encountered heavy smoke and flames coming from an open apartment door. The first-due engine was out of the district and the first hoseline would be delayed as Firefighter Akira Rodriguez, assigned to the forcible entry position, began a right-hand search while Lt. Kevin O’Hare started a left-hand search as flames crawled along the ceiling. Reaching the rear of the apartment, Rodriguez found a disoriented man who was looking for his niece and helped him to a rear deck where firefighters brought him to safety. Rodriguez crawled back down the hallway as conditions worsened, entered a bedroom and searched until he found an unconscious juvenile on a bed. He carried the female in his arms while shielding her from flames growing overhead as he returned down the hallway and brought her outside. Another firefighter rescued a second child from the fire apartment.

8. Gilberto L. Martinez III, FDNY - Queens

While en route to a dwelling fire, firefighters were notified that people were trapped inside the building. On arrival, fire had taken possession of two homes and engulfed the first floor of one 2½-story home where some occupants had jumped but others were trapped. Ladder 162 placed a ground ladder to a compromised awning on the second floor and used that to gain access to a set-back roof. Firefighter Gilberto L. Martinez entered a window into a bathroom where fire had already started burning through the wooden door. Opening the door, Martinez and Firefighter John Basquez III initiated search efforts despite punishing conditions and without a hoseline in place. Martinez located a 33-year-old female and carried her back to the bathroom and passed her out the window. He returned to the hallway where conditions continued to deteriorate and searched until he found a 55-year-old male. Using his body, Martinez shielded the man from the intense heat and carried him back to the bathroom window. Exhausted, Martinez helped remove the victim through the window to crews who began medical care.

9. Robert A. Perrone, FDNY – Manhattan

Firefighter Robert Perrone was in the rear of a four-story building where fire engulfed the first floor when search crews radioed their plan to exit the structure until water was on the fire. Perrone, assigned to the outside ventilation position on Ladder 43, spotted heavy smoke enveloping a female in a top-floor window. Perrone radioed his situation and ascended the fire escape while reassuring the woman that help was on the way. The window was away from the fire escape, so Perrone prepared to enter an adjacent unit through a window. At that point, the woman lunged out the window in an attempt to reach the fire escape, but she missed. Perrone was able reach out and catch the woman’s arm and was hanging over the fire escape, when she began to slip. He was able to muster the strength to grab her torso and pull her up and onto the fire escape. Then, a second victim appeared in the window and Perrone ordered them to remain in the window. He donned his SCBA and entered the apartment via a window and located the second victim under zero-visibility conditions. He brought the second victim to the fire escape where he helped both victims down to the ground on the fire escape before he returned to the building to continue search efforts.

10. Robert M. Meyer and Stan Sikora, Monroe Township, NJ, Fire District # 3

Firefighters responded to a senior citizen housing unit for a kitchen fire with reports of occupants trapped. On arrival, command ordered Firefighters Robert M. Meyer and Stan Sikora to force entry into the home to commence search efforts ahead of the hoseline. The two encountered zero-visibility conditions when Meyer heard a resident calling for help. Passing the fire area, he located the 91-year-old female and protected her as he brought her past the fire to the front door. Sikora, also passing the burning kitchen, continued searching and found a 93-year-old male confined to a wheelchair trapped in the back of the living room. Sikora dragged the man past the fire to safety. Once both victims were removed, they entered the home to locate the family dog.

11. Robert D. Brewer, Anne Arundel County, MD, Fire Department

Battalion Chief Robert Brewer was first to arrive and was conducting a size-up when a man told him that his mother was trapped inside. Fire was visible from a first-floor window and heavy smoke was pushing from the second floor, while Brewer donned his PPE and SCBA to conduct a Vent-Enter-Search effort. After closing the door to the room to block the intense fire conditions, Brewer searched the room to locate the female. He was met by two firefighters who removed the female to the ladder as fire burned through the door that had been closed. Brewer performed a ladder bail as the room became engulfed in flames.

12. Paul Burke, Sacramento, CA, Metropolitan Fire District

Capt. Paul Burke was off duty and driving with his son through rural Malheur County, OR, when a vehicle attempting to pass a tractor-trailer crashed into an SUV. Burke came across the crash moments later and assessed the scene, which included multiple patients in serious condition. He called 9-1-1 and told the dispatcher he needed three medical helicopters—which were an hour away—and firefighters with extrication tools. Passersby stopped to help, and Burke gave them assignments, but despite valiant efforts the driver of the SUV succumbed to his injuries. A group of young and inexperienced firefighters arrived after an hour and Burke directed the extrication efforts to remove a woman from the SUV. Burke helped as the patients were packaged and either flown or transported by ground to hospitals.

13. Bret Groendyke and Brad Howe, Grandville, MI, Fire Department

An ambulance crew driving on an interstate witnessed a vehicle driving erratically on an adjacent road before it crashed into a tree and the occupant appeared to have left the vehicle. The ambulance crew called for help with the crash and informed them of a possible water rescue at the Grand River. At 2:30 a.m. Lt. Bret Groendyke and Firefighter/EMT-B Brad Howe responded and found footprints that led to the swollen floodplain where recent rain and snowfall created challenges. A radio malfunction prevented firefighters from calling command when they heard a man yelling and asked police to call for additional resources. They swam a quarter mile to the man, who was intoxicated, combative and suffering from hypothermia. They worked to keep the man warm and as his condition deteriorated, Howe swam to a nearby ambulance to retrieve EMS supplies to care for the man. A boat was used to rescue the man who was in serious condition.

14. Pete Finnerty and Chris Siok, Los Angeles County Fire Department 

As the Woolsey Fire burned through Malibu, Capt. Pete Finnerty and Capt. Chris Siok drove their safety officer vehicle through heavy smoke and blackout conditions to locate a female who was trapped. Using their phone to navigate the roadway littered with fallen boulders and downed power lines, they located the home and scanned the location for an area of refuge in case fire cut off their path of egress. Finnerty and Siok could hear the woman screaming for help and were able to locate her in the blinding smoke. They returned to the vehicle with her and the captains were able to drive out of the conflagration, saving the woman’s life.