Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Medal

Firefighter Anthony R. Cavalieri
Rescue Company 5

May 23, 2002, 1224 hours
Box 0092
163-65 Brighton Avenue, Staten Island

Appointed to the FDNY on November 12, 1989. Previously assigned to Ladder 104. Father, Vincent Cavalieri, is a retired Lieutenant from Engine 154. Uncle, Vito CeLano, is a retired Lieutenant from Ladder 119. Brother, FF Vincent Cavalieri, is assigned to Ladder 105. Member of the Columbia Association. Resides in Staten Island, with his wife, Dawn, and their daughter, Jennifer. They are expecting twin boys soon.

Rescue Company 5’s FF Anthony R. Cavalieri and his fellow members were taking part in their unit’s SCUBA diving training drill in Staten Island’s Silver Lake when they were called to a confirmed building collapse with a workman reported trapped. The members of “Blue Thunder”--the Company’s nickname--rolled up to the midday incident on May 23, 2002, in nearby New Brighton, to confront one of the most unusual confined space rescue situations that FF Cavalieri or any of his FDNY comrades had ever faced.

A concrete-mixer truck had just finished pouring a basement floor at a three-story, 50- by 75-foot, wood-frame new home under construction at 163 Brighton Avenue when the truck struck the building, precipitating a collapse of all three floors of wood-frame platform construction.

Guermo Duran, a 30-year-old construction worker, was pinned by a combined pancake and lean-to collapse, face down in four inches of wet concrete, in a basement now compressed to about 14 inches high. He was bent in half, his knees pressed against his chest, in a void about 20 feet from the front wall and 10 feet from a side wall, under three floors of unstable lumber.

(Above) Rescue 5 members and their rig. photos courtesy of FF Anthony R. Cavalieri

On arrival, Rescue 5 Lieutenant Denis J. Driscoll assigned FF Cavalieri, the “entry #1” member, into the collapse zone, where Ladder Company 78’s FFs Timothy McCauley and Stephen Fenley already were attempting to reach Mr. Duran. Even before cribbing and shoring operations had begun, FF Cavalieri crawled deeper across the fresh concrete to advise Lieutenant Driscoll of the situation, in spite of the imminent danger of a secondary collapse, which could crush and/or drown him in concrete. Although he could speak no English, the victim indicated that he was in great pain and unable to move.

Meanwhile, under Lieutenant Driscoll’s direction, the “outside” members of Rescue 5 began sawing up nearby construction lumber into two-foot lengths to be passed in to FFs Cavalieri and McCauley to crib and shore up their precarious route as they crept toward Mr. Duran. The crib and crawl routine lasted for approximately 50 minutes, with FF Cavalieri lying down in four inches of wet concrete.

Maxi-force air bags also were passed in to FFs Cavalieri, McCauley and Fenley, to augment the cribbing and prepare to raise the floor beams above them. FFs Cavalieri and McCauley finally dragged Mr. Duran to safety, successfully concluding a rescue attempt under great personal risk, operating under threat of a secondary collapse and not knowing the depth of the newly poured concrete.

FF Cavalieri and the other rescuers, all covered with wet concrete, were decontaminated under EMS supervision and, with Mr. Duran, taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital for examination and treatment. FF Cavalieri then was transferred to the Staten Island University Hospital Burn Center for treatment of second- and third-degree chemical burns of the stomach area from exposure to caustic fresh concrete. He was admitted for five days.

Already the holder of seven citations, FF Cavalieri was cited for this incident for his sustained operation “in an extremely dangerous position,” which culminated in saving the life of a complete stranger. In the proudest traditions of the FDNY, the Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Medal is awarded to FF Anthony R. Cavalieri.—JM