Firefighter of the Year Award

 

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

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