Firefighter of the Year Award
2020 Winners
Delphi Falls Fire Department, Manlius Fire Department, Cazenovia Fire Department and Pompey Hill Fire Department
There are some calls in life that a first responder will never forget. This was definitely one of them. The rain started falling in Onondaga County early on June 20, 2019, and waters rose to dangerous levels. Streams became rivers and still water became swift water. In the early evening, Delphi Falls Fire Department was dispatched to a call for a woman who had fallen into Limestone Creek and was now trapped under a bridge. Delphi Falls FD quickly responded. The Chief of the Manlius Fire Department offered its technical rope rescue team to assist with the call.
Upon arrival, Delphi Falls firefighters discovered the most unlikely of scenes: A woman was trapped under the bridge that was almost completely submerged in water. The woman was stuck in one of the many channels of the underside of the bridge and amazingly found a pocket of air.
A woman’s hand appeared through a five-inch pipe coming through the bridge. One of the first firefighters on the scene held the hand, calming the woman. The individual who took on this task was well qualified to do so, as it was the Chaplain of the Pompey Hill Fire Co., one of the mutual aid departments.
Delphi command placed Manlius in charge of the technical aspects of the rescue and continued to summon resources, including a dive team. The closest dive team was from the Cazenovia Fire Department about six miles away.
Upon receiving word that the woman was not able to hold out much longer and seeing no other immediate option, the Manlius Chief attempted a rescue. He tied a rope to his harness which was held secure by other firefighters. The Chief lowered himself over the bridge into the waters and crawled along the side of the bridge. The swift water pounded him against the side of the bridge but he was able to move within two feet of the victim’s location. Unfortunately, despite best efforts, the Chief was swept partially under the bridge by the powerful waters upon reaching a gap in the side of the deteriorated bridge. The firefighters quickly pulled the Chief back to the side of the bridge.
After regrouping, several options were considered. To prepare for the diver who was about 40 minutes away, a “haul team” was deployed about 50 feet across the river with a rope that would be used to pull the rescuer and victim across the river. After a quick review of the plan and rescue procedures, the diver was lowered into the raging waters. The diver immediately was pounded by the water such that his spare regulator was engaged. The diver was guided to the location of the victim with aid of the rope system and set up to submerge.
The team had a difficult time keeping the diver in place and from being swept under the bridge, but the system worked as designed. With zero visibility in the muddy waters, the diver submerged, reached toward the victim who was more than arm’s length under the bridge and found the woman’s waist. After the diver made two tugs on the vertical rope, the Technical Rescue Officer called out for the Chaplain to let go of the woman’s hand. The haul team pulled the diver and woman across the rapid waters to safety.
Cazenovia Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CAVAC) treated and transported the woman, who recovered quickly. Despite the miracle of the rescue, the team remained strangely quiet, trying to cope with the events that had transpired.
No one on the incident had any technical-level swift water rescue training. None of the responding departments had any swift water rescue equipment or personnel. This call was as much a tribute to the ingenuity of firefighters as it is to the trust between them.
From the Chief who was held on a rope by two of his brother firefighters to the diver who was relied upon a rope system designed by people he did not know and with whom he had never worked, everyone came together for their sole purpose: save a life.
Adapted from a nomination by Manlius Fire Department Past Chief Bradley M. Pinsky
2020 Firefighter of the Year Sponsored by:
Past Award Recipients
1955 | J. Robert Kramer | Lewis Tompkins Hose Company #1 |
1956 | Edward Dixon | Great Neck Vigilants |
1957 | William M. Belinson | Eggertsville Hose Company |
1958 | John Patrick Cronin III | Tallman Fire Company #1 |
1959 | Dominic C. Zappia | Massena Fire Department |
1960 | Donald Brown | West Carthage Fire Department |
1961 | James Gilliam | Lewiston Fire Company #2 |
1962 | Russell Fleischman | Washington Engine Company #2 |
1963 | James H. Jackson | Andover Fire Department |
1964 | Donald H. Price | Nyack Fire Department |
1965 | Stephen R. Bucki | Harris Hill Fire Company |
1966 | Gary Elbert | Flower Hill Hose Company #1 |
1967 | Gordon O. Schmidt | St. Paul Boulevard Fire Association |
1968 | Jake Parris | Patchogue Fire Department |
1969 | Thomas Nameth | Slater Chemical Fire Company |
1970 | Charles L. Ossont | Westmoreland Fire Department |
1971 | Barry Simmons | Rhinebeck Fire Department |
1972 | Hobart A. Abbey | Forest View — Gang Mills Fire Deptartment |
1973 | Harry Charkow | Mattituck Fire Department |
1974 | John A. Keogh | Mattituck Fire Department |
1975 | John Richard Green | Merrick Fire Department |
1976 | Willard John Hoyt | South Schodak Fire Company |
1977 | Alton L. Lewis | Montour Falls Fire Department |
1978 | George Cannella | Islip Terrace Fire Department |
1979 | Randall R. Rhoades | East Syracuse Fire Department |
1980 | George Jerry Dean | Gates — Chili Fire Department |
1981 | David A. Sedlock | Massena Fire Department |
1982 | David L. Curley | Delhi Fire Department |
1983 | Richard W. Gehrt | Smithtown Fire Department |
1984 | Frederic Furminger | Depew Fire Department |
1985 | Thomas A. Phillips | S. W. Johnson Steam Fire Engine Company |
1986 | Michael F. Reid | Merrick Hook & Ladder Company #1 |
1987 | John L. Hyzer | Bainbridge Fire Department |
1988 | Paul Edward Vinciguerra | Lindenhurst Chemical & Salvage Company #2 |
1989 | Robert A. Frank | Central Islip Fire Department |
1990 | Robert Hitchcock | Blenheim Fire Department |
1991 | Charles R. Zigrosser | Bayport Fire Department |
1992 | George P. Motchkavitz | Great Neck Alert Engine Company |
1993 | Robert Pettigrew | North Babylon Fire Company |
1994 | Paul A. MacMurray | Hudson Falls Fire Department |
1995 | Kenneth T. Jones | Sayville Hook & Ladder Company #1 |
1995 | William H. Pyne III | Sayville Hook & Ladder Company #1 |
1996 | David A. DiDio | Bellport Fire Department |
1997 | Matthew F. Merecka | Freeport Fire Department |
1998 | Larry J. Stumpo | North Patchogue Fire Department |
1999 | James S. Fredericks | Mohegan Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. |
2000 | Mark Sposato | Brewerton Fire Department, Inc. |
2001 | Raymond Valles | Ossining Steamer Company #1, Inc. |
2001 | Donald J. Farrell | Cataract Hose Company #2 |
2001 | John Simkins | Ossining Fire Department |
2001 | William H. Brown III | Ossining Fire Department |
2002 | Dedicated to those who died in the Line of Duty 9/11/01 | |
2003 | Brian Stevens | Manlius Vol. Fire Company, Inc. |
2004 | John C. Glidden III | Huntington Manor Fire Department |
2004 | Frederick Steenson Jr. | Huntington Manor Fire Department |
2004 | Richard Prudente | Huntington Manor Fire Department |
2005 | Joseph Cirincione | Rush Fire Department |
2005 | Michael Terzo | Rush Fire Department |
2005 | Peter Henry | Rush Fire Department |
2005 | James Bucci | Rush Fire Department |
2006 | Richard J. Gimbl | Holbrook Fire Department |
2007 | Lieutenant Al Cinotti | West Islip Fire Department |
2008 | Lieutenant Edward Kunz | Bay Shore Fire Department |
2008 | Lieutenant John Ippolito Jr. | Bay Shore Fire Department |
2009 | Assistant Chief Timothy R. Ellis | North Syracuse Fire Department |
2010 | Kevin Oatman | Verona Fire Department |
2010 | Aldo Cacciotti | Verona Fire Department |
2010 | Jeff Hugunine | Verona Fire Department |
2011 | Second Assistant Chief Brian J. Lena | Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department |
2011 | Captain William J. “Billy” Bahr | Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department |
2012 | Andrew Kolesar | West Haverstraw Fire Department |
2013 | John Curley | Bellmore Fire Department |
2014 | Thomas J. Gorman | Bohemia Fire Department |
2015 | Frank Crispin | Moyers Corners Fire Department |
2015 | Steve Zaferakis | Moyers Corners Fire Department |
2015 | Phil Vogt | Moyers Corners Fire Department |
2015 | Ryan Whitmore | Moyers Corners Fire Department |
2015 | Jeremy Corsaro | Moyers Corners Fire Department |
2016 | Frederick Kopf | Baldwin Fire Department |
2017 | Timothy Duckham | Smithtown Fire Department |
2017 | Thomas Kriklava | Smithtown Fire Department |
2017 | Patrick Diecidue | Smithtown Fire Department |
2017 | Jennifer O’Brien | Smithtown Fire Department |
2017 | Joseph LaRocco | Smithtown Fire Department |
2017 | John Hansen | Smithtown Fire Department |
2018 | Peter DiPinto, Sr. | Brookhaven Fire Department |
2019 | Jason Bernfeld | Melville Fire Department |