Brooklyn Citizens Medal/FF Louis Valentino Award

Firefighter Anthony A. Maiello, Ladder Company 170

August 15, 2004, 0701 hours, Box 75-2297, 1350 East 83rd Street, Brooklyn

Appointed to the FDNY on July 28, 2002. Father, FF Joseph Maiello, is retired from Ladder 77. Recipient of a Class III rating for this incident. Honored by Firefighter Quarterly Magazine. Attended College of Staten Island. Resides in Staten Island.

The night tour of August 15, 2004, began uneventfully. There were the usual routine responses, but nothing noteworthy. That all changed, however, at 0701 hours, when Ladder 170 and Engine 257 were turned out to 1350 East 83rd Street in Brooklyn for the report of a fire in a private dwelling. It was a hot Sunday morning in August and it was about to get even hotter.

As the Firefighters approached the reported fire location, heavy smoke was pushing out of the first- and second-floor windows of one of the buildings in a row of attached, three-story, brick Canarsie tenements. A car parked in the building’s driveway partially blocked the first-floor entrance door, located under the stoop. Ultimately, this hampered placement of the first hose-line.

Fourth-grade FF Anthony Maiello, Ladder 170, was the outside vent Firefighter. His assignment was to get to the rear of the fire building to vent the fire area from the exterior and enter and search for victims. In Canarsie, however, getting to the rear is often easier said than done. The nearest access to the rear was an alley that was six houses from the fire building.

From this starting point, FF Maiello had to scale six four-foot fences, carrying a 24-foot extension ladder in addition to his tools. When he arrived at the rear of the fire building, he forced both the wrought-iron security door and the wooden entrance door to the fire apartment. Smoke boiled out the now-open rear entrance doorway. FF Maiello was faced with high heat and zero visibility just inside the doorway.

Undaunted, he began his search. He first encountered 52-year-old Marie Nelson lying on the floor, five feet inside the apartment entrance. He transmitted a 10-45 signal and pulled her to the rear yard, where FF Leonard Stromstedt, who had just arrived at the rear door, was waiting.

In spite of deteriorating conditions, FF Maiello returned to the apartment to continue his search. Engine 257’s hose-line was operating on the fire from the front entrance and, as a result, conditions in the rear, where FF Maiello was searching, were getting worse. He found 55-year-old Gustave Stsoren on the floor, near a bed, 15 feet in from the rear door. With fire rolling overhead and after transmitting a second 10-45, FF Maiello dragged Mr. Stsoren from harm’s way, out to the rear yard, where both victims were attended by waiting Firefighters.

FF Maiello entered the room a third time, but after a short while, the intense heat forced him from the building. As he exited the building, flames were blowing out from the doorway he had just exited.

Both victims suffered second-degree burns to their face and hands and were in respiratory arrest when rescued by FF Maiello. He made these rescues without the protection of a hose-line and was aware that at any time, Engine 257 members would be advancing their hose-line from the opposite side of the fire, pushing the fire toward him as they advanced, putting him in greater danger.

FF Maiello’s initiative, determination and willingness to put himself in danger enabled him to make a life-and-death difference in the lives of both Marie Nelson and Gustave Stsoren. Today, FF Anthony Maiello is honored with the Brooklyn Citizens Medal/FF Louis Valentino Award.—FM