Local Firefighters Honored For Heroism At FDNY’s Medal Day
For answering the call of duty and saving lives during emergencies in Bushwick, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Woodhaven and Woodside over the last year, several local firefighters were honored by the Fire Department during its annual Medal Day ceremony last Wednesday, June 6, in Manhattan.
During the ceremony at the 69th Regiment Armory, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano, Chief of Department Edward S. Kilduff, Chief of Operations Robert Sweeney and Chief of EMS Abdo Nahmod presented firefighters, ranking fire officers and paramedics with awards recognizing their heroic efforts over the last year in putting their own lives at risk to save strangers.
Among New York’s Bravest honored at Medal Day was Firefighter Ronald Daly of Rescue 4 in Woodside, who received the Thomas E. Crimmins Medal for helping to rescue several residents from a burning home on 61st Street in Woodside during a two-alarm fire early on the morning of Nov. 18, 2011.
As reported in the Times Newsweekly, the blaze ignited at around 1:15 a.m. that morning inside a home on 61st Street near 43rd Avenue and quickly spread to two adjacent residences on either sides of the structure.
Rescue 4 and Engine Co. 292, who are based on Queens Boulevard a short distance from the home, were the first to arrive at the scene. While Engine 292 members worked to extinguish the flames, Daly tried to enter the residence, only to be block at several entryways due to the rapidly growing fire.
Daly eventually made his way through an alley to a rear yard, where he met two injured victims who told him of another individual trapped on the first floor. The firefighter reportedly climbed a metal stair enclosure on the cellar door, removed window bars and broke open a window.
Reportedly, the firefighter then entered the home and encountered heavy smoke and heat. Following a search, he found a dog belonging to one of the families. Daly reportedly found an injured man as well as his dog.
After first carrying the injured victim out of the building, the FDNY stated, Daly went back in to rescue the dog. Both the injured man and family pet were treated for their injuries and survived.
Lt. Michael P. Lampasso of Ladder Co. 124 on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn was presented with the Henry D. Brookman Medal for pulling a couple out of a burning Bushwick home during a one-alarm blaze early on the morning of Feb. 28, 2011.
According to the Fire Department, the inferno ignited at around 3:15 a.m. that morning on the firstand second-floors of a three-story apartment house on Bleecker Street near Irving Avenue.
Ladder 124 was the second due unit to arrive at the location and, after learning that one child had been pulled out of the structure by Ladder Co. 112, moved in to search for other individuals.
Lampasso and two of his colleagues- Firefighters Richard Mercado and William Monjardo-entered the building and encountered heavy smoke. Donning their protective mask, the firefighters climbed up to the second floor and searched through an apartment.
Inside, the FDNY noted, Lampasso found a woman lying on the floor unconscious and in respiratory arrest. He reportedly dragged her to the stairwell and instructed his firefighters to remove her to the street.
Thereafter, Lampasso returned to the apartment and continued his search. He found a second individual- later identified as Jerry Nieves-on the floor of his bedroom. The lieutenant brought the unconscious man to the stairwell and, with the assistance of another firefighter, brought the victim out of the building.
Nieves, who was in cardiac arrest when he was pulled from the burning building, was rushed to Woodhull Hospital and later Jacobi Hospital Center, where he died from his injuries. The rescued woman was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and later Cornell Medical Center, where she made a recovery.
The Fire Department presented Capt. James F. Hay of Ladder Co. 163 in Woodside with the M.J. Delehanty Medal for helping to pull a man out of a burning Sunnyside home during a one-alarm blaze early on the morning of July 2, 2011.
Reportedly, the inferno ignited at around 4 a.m. on the top floor of an apartment house on 48th Street near 50th Avenue.
With two of his colleagues-Firefighters Nicholas Gonzalez and Michael Rogdakis-Hay walked up to the top floor and encountered heavy smoke and high heat from the top of an apartment door. The firefighters opened the door and heard moaning sounds inside the unit.
Reportedly, Hay crawled in past the fire area to the rear of the apartment and located an unconscious victim in a rear bathroom. He then dragged the man back through the apartment to the hallway.
While Gonzalez was instructed to stay with an engine officer, Hay and Rogdakis carried the injured man down three flights of stairs to the street, where the victim received oxygen. Hay then returned to the top floor apartment to complete search operations.
The injured victim suffered burns to one-third of his upper body but survived, according to the Fire Department.
One of Hay’s colleagues at Ladder 163, Firefighter Thomas E. Adams, also received the Fire Marshals Benevolent Association Medal for rescuing a man from a burning apartment in Woodside early on the morning of June 19, 2011.
Reportedly, the fire started at around 4:50 a.m. on June 19 on the second-floor of the apartment house on 44th Avenue near 60th Street.
Under Hay’s direction and assisted by Firefighter James Pue, Adams entered the location and climbed up to the second floor, where they encountered the fire inside an apartment. After forcing open the door, Adams-who was equipped with a small fire extinguisher while Engine Co. 292 was setting up its hose line-began dousing some of the flames.
Adams reportedly moved further into the apartment, encountering a number of obstacles along the way including cardboard boxes and plastic storage drawers. When he arrived at a bedroom, he found an unconscious 46-year-old man at the entrance.
The firefighter picked up the man and dragged him out of the apartment toward the stairwell. Adams and Hay carried the man down the stairwell to the street; the victim was brought to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Also honored at the Medal Day ceremony was Firefighter Eugene P. O’Donnell of Squad Co. 18 in Manhattan, who received the Brummer Medal for rescuing a man who had fallen onto the tracks at the Roosevelt Avenue E train station in Jackson Heights at 11:25 p.m. on the night of Nov. 23, 2011.
Though off-duty at the time, it was noted, O’Donnell jumped down to the tracks and pulled the unconscious man back onto the platform, assisted by some passengers in the process. The rescue was completed about 90 seconds before an E train arrived on the same tracks.
Finally, Lt. Todd A. Vetter of Engine Co. 293 in Woodhaven was presented with the Holy Name Society Medal for Brooklyn and Queens for helping to rescue an unconscious man from inside a burning home on 76th Street in Woodhaven on the night of Mar. 5, 2011.
Encountering heavy smoke and heat during his search of the residence, Vetter crawled through the residence and found the unconscious male inside a fire room door. With the help of Firefighter William Finucane of Engine Co. 293, Vetter removed the victim to the stairwell.
The injured man, who suffered significant burns, was brought to Cornell Burn Center and was treated following an extended stay.
Editor’s note: Information regarding the rescues made by firefighters was found in a Medal Day guide published by the Fire Department on its website, www.nyc.gov/fdny.
