Medals of Honor Awarded for Heroic Saves at FASNY’s Annual Convention in Alexandria Bay

The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) held their 139^th Annual Convention honoring three volunteer service members with Medals of Honor during an awards ceremony.

Two members of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department were awarded ‘Firefighter of the Year’ awards for their brave team work during a rescue of an elderly couple that were trapped in their home during a fire.

At the annual convention, Mahopac FD Captain William J. “Billy” Bahr and Second Assistant Chief Brian J. Lena were honored for saving two residents who were trapped in heavy smoke from the eaves of the dwelling and fire outside their bedroom. Second Assistant Chief Lena tried forcing the door, but to no avail. He then ran around the house and observed the occupants at a window. At that time, First Assistant Chief Hamill arrived and assisted Second Assistant Chief Lena with a ladder up to the occupant’s room saving the elderly couple.

“Unless you experience firsthand the way that volunteer firefighters instantly go into this mode, this zone, a state of mind, it is very difficult to describe what they did. I am very proud of my members and officers. I read somewhere that volunteer firefighters don’t like to be called heroes; that we just like a good ‘thank you’ once in awhile. Well, I am their chief, and I have decided to call them heroes whether they like it or not,” said Chief of Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department Ron Goodrow.

The third award was presented to an Owego Town EMS Chief who was awarded the metal during the ceremony for her work in saving a victim of a car accident.

Karen L. Rathke has been EMS Chief for the past three years and has been a member of the company since 1994 when she joined at the age of sixteen.

On the evening of December 11th, the Southside Fire Company and First Responder Unit were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash described as a car into a tree. The dispatch was then updated with the vehicle being on fire with possible entrapment. Rathke and her husband responded directly to the scene as the crash was between their home and the fire station. Upon their arrival, the cab of the vehicle was found to be fully engulfed in flames with the occupant visibly trying to escape the vehicle.

David Rathke, Karen’s husband and Captain of Southside, knocked down the flames with a fire extinguisher enough so that the victim could free himself of the wreckage and be pulled away from the vehicle. Karen extinguished the man’s burning clothing with her hands. She began treating the victim and provided an update of the situation to dispatch, acting as both the initial provider and incident commander, and requesting the helicopter.

Everyday volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel save lives. The three recipients were honored and chosen for the awards because they went above and beyond to save those in a life threatening situation.

The convention drew in nearly 2,000 volunteer firefighters, EMS personnel and their families bringing in revenue to many 1,000 Islands businesses.

FASNY also announced a historic initiative called the Higher Education Learning Plan, or HELP, which is a first ever college tuition reimbursement program for the volunteer fire service throughout New York State.