Firefighter of the Year Award 2008

At 11:45 p.m. on December 14, 2007 the temperature was freezing and a steady 16 mile-per-hour wind made conditions even more extreme. Firefighter Marc Nicastro and three members of Engine 4 responded to a report of a smoke detector sounding at a 27-unit apartment complex on Middle Street. No one had reported seeing any smoke or fire.

Engine 4 discovered fire in a bottom floor apartment, and it quickly spread through the entire building. Most of the residents had ignored the alarm and were still in their apartments. Search and rescue operations were started immediately.

As their air bottles were emptying and firefighters were being ordered out, a report came of a man trapped in his 3 ^rd floor apartment. Fire in the floor, walls and ceiling of the 3 ^rd floor hallway made an interior rescue impossible.

Firefighter Nicastro climbed a 35-foot ladder to the window where the victim was last seen calling for help. He reached inside and grabbed the unconscious man and pulled him to the window but was unable to move him. Firefighter Nicastro then went through the window, but still could not move the man and was almost trapped himself. Soon after, the entire building collapsed. The 8-alarm fire devastated a large part of a city block and took one life. It was the largest fire to strike the community in over 30 years.

Thanks to the heroism of Group 2, working against the odds and the elements, 20 lives were saved. The synagogue was destroyed, the library saved but there was significant extension of fire.

It was a hot day in June, when the Hyannis Fire-Rescue received a 911 call reporting a female trapped in a machine at the All Seasons Laundry. The ambulance and heavy rescue crews quickly responded. The EMT's and paramedics began emergency medical care to the patient, while simultaneously ensuring that the machine was locked out and directing all non-fire personnel away from the rescue area.

Due to a language barrier, the efforts to control the scene were initially very difficult. Lieutenant Knowlton and his crew of Lieutenants Rex and Kenny and Firefighter Dardia launched the rescue operation. They found the victim's left arm entangled in a large commercial folding machine.

The woman's arm was pinned between two rollers and appeared to be fractured in numerous places. The men worked to carefully lift the patient, relieving stress and comforting her while master mechanics Richard Randall and David Scott assisted with the extrication operations.

On October 25, 2007, the Fall River Fire Department responded to a fire at a local housing development. Upon arrival, smoke was showing from the second floor and occupants reported two children trapped in the bedroom adjacent to the room on fire. Lieutenant Glen Golden stretched an attack line for Lt. Michael Cabral to make his way to the second floor to conduct a search for the children. He encountered heat and heavy smoke with no visibility but made his way into the bedroom and began a thorough search for the victims. Within a short time, he found the first, a three-year-old boy, and swiftly brought him to Lt. Dan Gerling who revived the unconscious child with CPR. Lt. Cabral then re-entered the building and made a second rescue finding a nine-year-old girl wedged between the wall and the box spring. Lt. David Defaria carried the girl outside and the young girl was given CPR by Aide Jennings. The actions of Lt. David Defaria, Lt. Daniel Gerling, Firefighter Glen Golden, and Chief's Aide Paul Jennings, all displayed a remarkable ability to work together, which inevitably lead to saving the lives of two young children.

On January 23, 2008, the Rockland Fire Department responds to a Centre Avenue house fire. Lt. Donald Hussey and firefighters Tom Heaney and Mike Tracy were the first on the scene and entered the house through a rear kitchen door. Seconds later, a ball of fire filled the room. A propane bottle placed in the oven exploded engulfing Lt. Hussey and FF Heaney in flames and trapping FF Tracy in the bathroom. With Lt. Hussey and FF Heaney attacking the fire with a hose line, FF Tracy was able to jump out a window to avoid the flames. The firefighters then regrouped and continued to fight the fire. They went back into house where they found an unconscious victim in the upstairs bedroom, and pulled her safely from the building. Paramedics began life saving procedures and transported her to the Brockton hospital. Three of the firefighters were also taken in for evaluation and released.

On April 24, 2008, Firefighter Jeff Moses was off duty when he smelled smoke nearby. He investigated and discovered a fire on the 2nd floor of a three-decker home. He called in the fire, and then began alerting and evacuating residents. One resident, suffering from a traumatic brain injury and diminished capacity, kept re-entering the building, until Firefighter Moses removed him and placed him safely in the care of neighbors. This move likely saved the man's life. Captain Tom Nolan travelling nearby, heard the alarm and rushed to the scene less than a block away. He forced entry to the second floor, at which time the windows blew in and wind drove the fire through the apartment.

Captain Nolan then passed the fire and searched for the handicapped female. Once he discovered the victim, he attempted to drag her down the hallway but due to the rapidly deteriorating fire conditions, needed to drag her back to the bedroom and declared a mayday over his radio. Captain Donald Shea received the MAYDAY, and focused on rescuing Captain Nolan and the victim. Drastically undermanned, before mutual aid arrived, he enlisted the aid of bystanders to deploy ladders to the trapped firefighter and victim. Scrambling up a hastily thrown ladder, he saw that Captain Nolan was suffering from smoke inhalation and exhaustion and he immediately requested help.

With the assistance of Firefighter Brian O'Neil and Lt. Kevin McDermott, on a second ladder, the woman was pulled through the window, followed by Firefighters William Cross, O'Neil and Captain Nolan. A dramatic rescue like this is made not by any one individual, but as a result of a coordinated effort executed by all of the Saugus firefighters who operated at that alarm. Three lives were saved that day-those of a person on the third floor with a brain injury, a person on the second floor who is a double amputee, and Captain Nolan. It should also be noted that a second 3-alarm fire was also burning in Saugus at the same time.

On November 2, 2007, dispatch received a call for medical assistance at an excavation site. Upon arrival, Captain Donald Jasmin and Captain James Bertram found that the situation was far worse than they had feared.

The victim was trapped three feet deep, in a seated position, pinned against the wall of an excavation, under a one-and-a-half ton concrete slab. Paramedics immediately began patient assessment, while the first arriving Engine Company began the extrication, using all tools at their disposal - including air bags, Jaws of Life, and even hand digging to allow the victim to breathe.

After working for an hour and a half, the victim was extricated and transported by med-flight to Boston for care and treatment.

As a result of the professional work, experience and determination to succeed, the victim received only non-life threatening injuries and was released a few days after the event.

Fire Marshal's Award

Smoking is the leading cause of fatal fires nationally and here in Massachusetts. Reacting to the tragic fire that killed six members of the Kearney-O'Neill family in his district, former Congressman Joseph Moakley launched an effort to pass federal fire-safe cigarette legislation in the 1970s and 80s as a way to reduce these horrible tragedies.

A former congressional colleague of his, James M. Shannon, now president of the National Fire Protection Association, took up that cause and coordinated the work of the Coalition for Fire Safe Cigarettes™.

The Coalition was instrumental in passage of the Fire Safe Cigarette law here in Massachusetts and in 34 other states. Soon more than 80% of the nation's people will be protected by similar legislation. This will have an impact on reducing the number of people who die in fires in the Commonwealth each year. Congressman Moakley would be proud.