The following candidates have been nominated and met the criteria for the 2016 Ray Downey Courage and Valor award. All nominees valiantly and unhesitatingly upheld their oath to protect and save, and have exhibited to their utmost the core values of the American Fire Service. The selection committee is reviewing each nominated scenario. The presentation of the award to the finalist will be made on Wednesday, April 20, at the Opening Ceremony (8:00 a.m.-10 a.m.) of the Fire Department Instructors Conference International 2016 in Indianapolis. The listings are in alphabetical order of their names.
• Senior Firefighter John P. Bolton, Columbia (SC) Fire Department: 22-year member of the fire service.
On Thursday, October 1, 2015, rains began in “a Thousand-Year Storm” that brought torrential downpours throughout the weekend. Record amounts of rainfall overwhelmed the rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, and the already saturated ground from the coast of South Carolina into the city of Columbia and Richland County.
On the morning of October 4, 2015, Senior Firefighter (SF) Bolton was responding to the Eastover part of Richland County for a report of a structure fire. He headed with Tanker 22 first to Zeigler Road, the normal route to Eastover. Zeigler Road was washed out. He then headed down Congaree Road to Bluff Road, the second route to Eastover. As he turned left onto Bluff off, he encountered medium-height flood water. He continued to make his way down Bluff Road.
Six residents stopped him to get help for a woman (Cassandra Deveaux) and her infant that were drowning in their house. Bolton exited his tanker and proceeded to the house to which a resident had pointed. SF Bolton was not wearing swift water gear (Tanker 22 does not carry it), but he, as all the department’s firefighters, was trained in swift water rescue. Cassandra’s mother handed Bolton her phone so he could talk to Cassandra, who informed him that she had lost contact with her child. Bolton radioed Columbia Central that he was attempting a water rescue at the site. He headed into waist-deep water, which, at this point, was not flowing swiftly.
As he made his way across the bridge, however, conditions rapidly deteriorated. He called a Mayday as a 15-foot wave hit him and took him under/through the bridge as it was collapsing. He was trapped in a culvert under the collapsed bridge, which was on top of him, fighting the water to get air. The chamber flooded under the immense quantity of rushing water. He passed out. His body was rushed into class 5 rapids a few hundred feet off the roadway. He fought to survive as he pressed on swimming to the surface. He finally got to where he could breath. He swam to the nearest tree and grabbed the vines as he pulled himself to toward the tree. He threw his radio strap around the tree and held on for several hours.
A local resident heard his calls for help and the fire department of his location. Rescuers in a motor boat pulled him from the water. He was transported by helicopter to McEntire Air National Guard Base for a rapid medical assessment. He was discharged from the hospital and returned to work that night.
• Captain Charlie Cashen, Kansas City (MO) Fire Department: 33-year member of the fire service.
On January 4, 2015, at 1750 hours, Pumper 28 was dispatched as part of a regular alarm on a reported residential fire with occupants trapped. The first-due company, Pumper 45, reported heavy smoke and fire showing from a two-story, wood-frame. Residents confirmed that an occupant was trapped inside the structure.
On Pumper 28’s arrival, Capt. Cashen had his firefighters deploy a second handline and make entry through the front door on side A to assist Pumper 45, which was advancing the primary attack line to the main floor. As Capt. Cashen was entering the home, he inquired about the last known location of the trapped occupant. The fireground commander responded that the location was possibly a bedroom in the lower level of the structure.
Because of the amount of fire on the primary floor, Capt. Cashen advised his two firefighters to continue to make the push on the primary floor and knock down the well-advanced fire while he searched the lower level. As he made the lower level, he encountered high heat and heavy smoke conditions with no visible fire. He began to search the lower level. A rapid change in heat conditions forced him to seek shelter in a bathroom in the hallway. He shut the door to shield himself from the heat.
After less than a minute, he opened the door and encountered a hallway that had flashed over and wind-driven because a large picture window on the C side had failed. He transmitted a Mayday, reporting that he was trapped in the basement with heavy fire conditions and was going to try to self-rescue.
He opened the bathroom door and exited, turning left in the direction from which he had come. He went down the hallway and instantly felt the burning of his protective equipment and skin. He came upon the stairs he used to descend to the basement. He met his crew members, who were attacking the fire that was venting up the stairway. Assisted by his company, he exited the structure and was immediately treated by on-scene medical units. He was transported to a burn center and treated for second- and third-degree burns that necessitated skin grafts. He has since returned to full duty. On the day of the fire, the missing occupant was found deceased in a bedroom on the home’s lower level.
• Captain Donald E. DeRogatis Jr., Bayonne (NJ) Fire Department: 23-year veteran of the fire service.
Capt. DeRogatis Jr. responded first-due to a well-involved fire in a three-story, wood-frame residential structure with reports of trapped residents, including a nonambulatory male. Were it not for the confirmed reports of victims in the building, fire department officials say a defensive strategy might have been implemented because the fire conditions were so severe.
Capt. DeRogatis Jr. was one of two members to enter the apartment with fire overhead threatening the five trapped civilians. He led the rescue effort. Without the protection of a charged hoseline in the entire structure (the lines were damaged by collapse debris), he dragged each victim, one at a time, to other members in the hallway. After three victims were out of the building, he was alone on the second floor with fire in the apartment and in the hallway. Conditions on the second floor were such that two civilians perished; a leaking oxygen pump was present, and there was a potential for an interior collapse. He continued the primary search and found the fifth and final victim. Three victims are living today.
• Deputy Chief William Dicker, Needham Fire Rescue Company, Tomball, Texas: 13-year-veteran of the fire service.
On February 9, 2015, Deputy Chief (DC) Dicker and another member were on their way to the station from a training session when a house fire call dropped. Being close to the location, they responded. On arrival, the house was fully involved. Neighbors told DC Dicker that the resident might be in the house. Without delay, he told alarm that they were going inside to check for the resident. They entered the house with no charged hoseline because the trucks had not yet arrived. They located the resident and removed him to safety. The resident survived. The trucks arrived after the rescue.
• Training Officer/Captain Marcus Goodman, Spalding County Fire Department, Griffin, Georgia: 18-year member of the fire service
On June 20, 2015, at around 10 p.m., Capt. Goodman was traveling southbound in Squad 7 on North Expressway and Manley Road, returning from a fire call. He was in the right-hand southbound lane. A white Toyota Camry was beside him in the left-hand lane traveling in the same direction. He noticed ahead of him a set of headlights going northbound in the southbound lane toward the white Camry and his vehicle. He anticipated a head-on collision. He hit his brakes and allowed the Camry to move into the right lane in front of him and avoid the car going in the wrong direction. Capt. Goodman notified his dispatch center and asked that the Sheriff’s Department be notified of the situation. The driver was apprehended.
• Lieutenant/EMT Richard D. Honse, Lubeck (WV) Volunteer Fire Department: Nine-year veteran of the department.
Around 22:00 hours on July 12, 2015, Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department’s Rescue 28 responded with a crew of six firefighters to assist the Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department in the aftermath of a storm that resulted in people being stranded in flood waters. After checking in at the command post, Rescue 28 was proceeding to apartments on Dublin Drive, where it was reported civilians were trapped on the roof. There was also a report that a woman was missing in the flood waters.
As the crew was en route, a male stopped them and said he knew where a missing female who had been swept away by the flood water was. He led them to a golf course, where they saw a screaming woman clinging to a tree about 150 feet out in the water. The waters in which they were wading had damaged their portable radios. No one knew where they were, and they didn’t have any equipment. They sent a firefighter to obtain help, but he was unable to make it back because of the rising water.
Rescue 28 determined that the male who led them to the victim had a 100-foot piece of Para cord and their chief had 40 feet of 8-mm cord, two carabiners, and some webbing in his bunker pants. They tied them all together. Lt. Honse, wearing a life jacket, waded out in the water with the makeshift rope tied to his full body harness. The chief became the anchor. Lt. Hones attempted to reach the victim four times and each time was swept past her by the swift current. He pulled back to shore four times.
On the fifth try, he was able to catch a limb and pull himself over to her. He wrapped his webbing around her and clipped her to his harness. After coaxing her to let go of the tree, they were swept away into the open water and pulled to safety.
• Battalion Chief/EMT James Jablonowski, Chicago (IL) Fire Department: 35-year member of the fire service
Battalion Chief (BC) James Jablonowski was socializing with friends in a remote industrial area along the Chicago River, when a young female teenager tripped and fell approximately 15 to 20 feet into the darkness of the river.
The following is a summary of events as reported by Deputy District Chief (DDC) Thomas Arnswald, second reporting unit on the scene.
On August 8, 2015, at approximately 0419 hours, BC Jablonowski, assigned to Battalion 2, responded to a 911 dispatch of a “person in the water” in an industrial area just south of downtown Chicago.
The location is a remote industrial area that is poorly lit and surrounded by railroad tracks and railroad crossings. The river in the area sits approximately 15-20 feet below the highest portion of the embankment walls, is approximately 200 feet across from side to side, and runs north and south. The depth of the water is about 15-20 feet. The water quality is poor (considered contaminated) with zero visibility. Many old pilings protrude from the surface, and multiple hazards are beneath the surface. There are no emergency exits to grade level in this area of the river.
BC Jablonowski, the first on the scene, donned his personal protective equipment (PFD), rescue throw line, and flashlight) and proceeded to the river’s edge. The poor lighting hampered initial efforts to see a person in the dark water. A bystander approached DDC Arnswald and said his friend was drowning in the river and two others went in to try to save her. DDC Arnswald witnessed the scene and then notified BC Jablonowski that there appeared to be a person in the river with arms flailing, desperately trying to stay afloat, about 35 to 50 feet from the shoreline.
The only fire department responders on scene were DDC Arnswald, his aide, and BC Jablonowski. The aide attempted to throw a rescue rope to the victim; however, it landed several feet short.
BC Jablonowski recognized the urgency of the scene. He stripped down, donned his personal floatation device, proceeded to the river’s edge, and jumped 15 to 20 feet down from the embankment into the river. The victim, now about 100 feet from the embankment, struggled to stay above water. BC Jablonowski maintained visual contact with the victim, called out, and swam to her location. Just before making physical contact, the victim went under the water’s surface. Jablonowski made contact with the victim, secured her using the water rescue recovery mode, and swam back to shore with her.
Fire companies that had arrived on the scene rescued the two friends of the victim who had tried to rescue her by placing ladders from the embankment 150 feet north of BC Jablonowski’s location. Additional companies that had arrived placed rescue ropes in the water and awaited BC Jablonowski’s arrival at the embankment edge with the victim. BC Jablonowski placed a handcuff knot on the victim, which enabled the rescuers to raise her from the river. She was turned over to waiting paramedics and transported as a category “Red” to the hospital. She ultimately made a full recovery.
The Chicago Fire Department helicopter unit arrived and deployed two divers to assist in getting the exhausted BC Jablonowski from the river. After decontamination, he was transported to a hospital for observation and exposure.
• Captain Allen Pekarek, Indianapolis (IN) Fire Department: 18-year member of the fire service.
On September 29, 2015, the driver of a silver Aveo slammed on his brakes to avoid an accident suddenly found his car trapped under four high-voltage power lines that set his car on fire. Witnesses say a red Mini Cooper traveling southbound was rear-ended by the driver of a green Dodge Durango, which pushed the Mini Cooper across the center line and into the path of an Engledow truck and trailer. The impact forced the Engledow truck into a utility pole, which severed at its base and caused the power lines to fall.
The driver of the Aveo told firefighters he slammed on his brakes when he saw the accident occur in front of him and when he stopped, he found himself under the high-voltage transmission lines. Each line carried 7,000 volts. On impact with the Aveo, the lines burned through the car at the rear post and top at the antenna. The fire then communicated to the interior of the vehicle. The driver remained calm and remained inside the car until firefighters arrived.
Capt. Pekarek and the crew of Engine 4 assessed the situation, established a safe perimeter, and began communicating with the man inside the vehicle. Capt. Pekarek, through IFD dispatchers, several times radioed to Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) requesting that an emergency utility respond to deenergize the lines. The utility was having difficulty getting to the scene because of heavy traffic. It was using a remote shut-off system, but could not isolate the exact pole and backup.
At one point, an IPL dispatcher radioed that the lines had been deenergized and the scene was safe. Capt. Pekarek asked if IPL was sure that the lines had been deenergized and provided the pole number for verification. The dispatcher confirmed the deenergization but frantically recanted 20 seconds later. The lines, in fact, had not been deenergized. He warned the captain not to approach them. Capt. Pekarek waited.
Capt. Pekarek, also a paramedic, ascertained that the driver had a preexisting heart condition and that the stress of the situation had put him at high risk for a sudden cardiac incident. He was concerned about the driver’s medical condition and the stress of the situation, the outbreak of fire, and the smoke that was now inside the vehicle. He quickly determined that he would have to risk possible electrocution. He extinguished the fire while the lines were still energized. He used a water can to extinguish the fire inside the car, knocked down the visible fire, and stepped away. IPL arrived on scene; the lines were deenergized in 30 minutes. The driver was transported to the hospital for observation. He was not injured.
• Lieutenant Charles “Ken” Rinaldi, Orlando (FL) Fire Department: 20-year veteran of the fire service.
On June 30, 2015, Engine 2 and Rescue 3 delivered a baby in the back of Rescue 3 while on the way to the hospital. Lt. Rinaldi delivered the boy while the crew assisted with clamping and cutting, and so on. Units were changed out at the hospital.
On the way back to the station, all of these members were in the back of Rescue 3. They were approximately 75 feet behind a woman who had stopped her vehicle on the railroad tracks. Two trains were approaching the crossing, one from the north and one from the south. Both crossing gates came down, pinning the woman and her vehicle on the tracks. Engine 2 crew exited Rescue 3 and went to the driver door with instructions to get the driver out. As the trains got closer, however, Lt. Rinaldi moved up to the vehicle and lifted up the gate arm, enabling the woman to back her vehicle off the tracks. Within five seconds, both trains passed through the rail crossing. No one was injured. No vehicles were damaged. All remained calm and focused under extraordinary circumstances.
• Firefighter Jason Rivera, New Haven (CT) Fire Department: 18-year veteran of the fire service.
Just past midnight on March 1, 2015, Firefighter (FF) Rivera responded on Engine 6 out of the Dixwell station with other units to a working fire in a 2½-story balloon-frame, wood dwelling. On arrival, fire was venting from the second-floor windows and out the front right door (duplex). The fire had burned the stairs. An occupant had propped the door open with a shopping cart, creating a flow path. The report of a trapped victim was relayed as Engine 6 began a rapid deployment and an aggressive attack.
Since one of the trucks was delayed, the primary attack was assigned to the engine companies. FF Rivera began to control the stairs and made a push under high heat and zero visibility. On the way up the stairs to the second floor, the firefighters were met with heavy hoarding conditions and a well-involved structure fire. Engine 6 was making headway in attacking the fire when the hydrant firefighter radioed that the hydrant was frozen and an alternate water source was needed. Hose was laid to Engine 6, which became the secondary water supply. The attack team, concerned about the safety of the trapped occupant, realized that the 500-gallon tank on Engine 6 would have to be maximized while the relay was established.
FF Rivera continued to push in and extinguish heavy fire until his attack line became hung up at the coupling. He was asked to try to hold his position while his lieutenant attempted to correct the hoseline issue. Having a hand tool and knowing that Engine 4’s crew was attempting to gain access to the third-floor stairs where the victim was thought to be, FF Rivera, still alone in zero visibility with high heat pushing down on him, breached the wall from the living room to the kitchen. He then alternated playing the line into the hole and in front of him into the heavily involved kitchen. He managed his tank water and held his position despite the fact that his body was burning. His actions made the Charlie side of the structure more tenable so that Engine 4 could complete its primary search. Engine 4 made the stairs in the rear to the third floor and quickly located an unresponsive male. They moved him to the rear yard.
While Engine 4 moved the victim around the structure, Engine 6 completely ran out of water. FF Rivera backed down to the bottom of the stairs; when water was reestablished, his crew made an aggressive push on the second floor. He later discovered that the discomfort he was feeling was burns on his knees, waist, wrists, and legs.
• Shift Lieutenant Raymond Philip Smith, Pearce’s Mill Fire Department, Fayetteville, North Carolina: Nine-year veteran of the fire service.
On Dec. 22, 2014, Engine 332 was dispatched to a residential structure fire in Fayetteville. Then Firefighter Smith, along with Lt. Maurice Allender and Firefighter Ryan Gustafson, arrived on scene to find a single-wide mobile home engulfed in flames.
Engine 332, led by FF Smith, advanced a hoseline to the front door, but the crew was quickly met with an extreme immediately dangerous to life or health atmosphere and could not enter. Crews, through interviews with family members on scene, established that eight-year-old Tavares Hollingsworth was inside the home, confirming the initial dispatch reports.
FFs Smith and Gustafson walked the perimeter of the home and located the boy’s bedroom window. FF Smith requested permission to enter the structure from Incident Commander (IN) Deputy Chief Tracy Smith. Permission was denied because of the extreme heat and very low visibility and also because the location was unknown and there was no confirmation of the boy’s condition.
Using a thermal imaging camera and hand tools to clear the window of debris, FF Smith identified a heat signature not consistent with the surrounding room that was engulfed in flames adjacent to the room’s doorway. Again, FF Smith requested permission to enter the room through the window. The IC then granted permission. FF Smith with the assistance of FF Gustafson began entering the window. However, both firefighters were ordered out of the structure after gaining partial entry because of the extreme conditions.
FF Smith requested that an officer come to the location so he could plead his case. Assistant Chief and Operations Officer Bryan Marley met with FFs Smith and Gustafson at the ground-floor window to discuss search options. He granted the firefighters permission to enter the structure, as there now was a hoseline within reach. Within one minute of entering the room, FF Smith located the boy and removed him through the bedroom window to awaiting firefighters and paramedics. The boy was flown to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He underwent three months of intensive treatment. Despite suffering burns over 60 percent of his body, the boy is now living with his mother and two siblings at home.
• Deputy Chief John Zellmann, Turners Falls (MA) Fire Department: 35-year member of the fire service.
On May 7, 2015, Deputy Chief (DC) John Zellmann heard an emergency call made to the Greenfield Fire Department (GFD) advising that a local man had jumped from the bridge that connects Greenfield and Turners Falls. He asked for and received from the GFD to assist in the response. He was the first responder to arrive at the bridge. Witnesses pointed to the jumper, who was quickly floating downriver.
DC Zellmann drove his car to a walking bridge, ran across the bridge, and descended to the riverbank. Sizing up the situation, he knew that he would have to act quickly if he were to have a chance to save the victim. The river was running at an above-average flow. He advised both fire departments that he was going to attempt to rescue the man. He jumped in the river, and reached the victim about 30 feet from shore. Fire department crews had arrived on the scene while he was rescuing the jumper. When he brought the victim back to shore, the crews carefully collared and boarded the victim and brought him to the awaiting ambulance. Because of his life-threatening injuries, however, the victim was transferred by helicopter to the Intensive Care Unit at a medical center. He ultimately made a successful recovery.
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