Thomas A. Kenny Memorial Medal

Firefighter David J. Segot, Ladder Company 40

June 20, 2004, 1547 hours, Box 44-1631, 680 Riverside Drive, Manhattan

Appointed to the FDNY on February 5, 1995. Father, FF Lucien Segot, is retired from Engine 315; uncle, FF Jules Segot, is retired from Engine 69; brother, FF Lucien Segot is a member of Engine 59. Recipient of a Class II rating for this incident. He resides in Bethpage, Long Island, with his wife, Deena.

Making a rescue in a fire apartment is hard enough when a skilled Firefighter is able to crawl beneath the flames and smoke to remove a victim, but going above the fire heightens the danger. FF David J. Segot had experienced his share of danger during his 10-year career with the FDNY, all of them in Ladder 40, but on June 20, 2004, he was called upon to show why he deserved to be called one of New York’s Bravest.

At 1547 hours, Manhattan Box 1631 was transmitted for a report of a fire on the third floor of a six-story multiple dwelling at 680 Riverside Drive. FF Segot was assigned the outside vent position and knew that he had his work cut out for him, due to multiple phone calls for this location. His suspicions were confirmed when they arrived second-due and he could see flames lapping out two windows and heavy, black smoke spewing from another on the third floor.

As the second-arriving truck, FF Segot knew he was responsible for search and rescue on the floor above the inferno. His size-up of the building made him aware of a figure at the fourth-floor window, barely visible through the ink-black smoke engulfing the upper floors of the building. He notified the chauffeur, FF Scott Atlas (detailed from Ladder 36), of the victim’s location. FF Atlas positioned the ladder at the window adjacent to and one floor above the flames that were lapping out of the fire apartment. FF Segot wasted no time ascending the ladder to remove the victim.

FF Segot realized as he forced himself to pass the high heat and choking smoke that he would be unable to remove the victim using this ladder. With a mighty effort, he made his way up and into the window, where he found the 84-year-old Daisy Wilson panicked, disoriented and choking from the heavy, acrid smoke that filled her apartment. The wind blowing off the Hudson had intensified the blaze to blowtorch proportions and prevented the engine companies on the interior from moving in to extinguish it.

As the blaze below quickly spread and elevated to what became a four-alarm fire, FF Segot knew he could not remove the victim through the interior and began to look for another way out. He moved the elderly woman, who was normally confined to a wheelchair, to the living room. This gave them access to the fire escape on the side of the building, away from the fire. Unfortunately, the wind was rapidly pushing the fire toward them and it began to vent from the windows below them while they were on the fire escape.

Luckily for rescuer and victim, the chauffeur of Engine 60 saw their predicament and quickly put the Stang into operation. FF Pat Conroy of Engine 59 climbed onto Engine 60 and used the Stang to knock down the fire that already had begun to burn Ms. Wilson’s leg and was lapping at their feet. FF Segot’s brother, FF Lucien Segot of Engine 59, was detailed to Ladder 30 and assigned the outside vent position. He was being forced off the aerial by the intensity of the blaze.

FF David Segot notified the chauffeur of Ladder 30 to reposition his aerial to a location away from the flames for their escape, as the flames began to intensify. He removed Ms. Wilson to a spot on the third floor of the fire escape, where FF Lucien Segot was able to quickly ascend Ladder 30’s aerial and assist his brother in the removal of the victim as the fire continued to rage out of control on the third floor. When they had removed the woman, she was treated by EMS and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was treated for smoke inhalation and the burn to her leg.

Had it not been for FF Segot’s bravery and perseverance in the face of great danger, Daisy Wilson surely would have died in this conflagration. The Fire Department is proud to award FF David J. Segot the Thomas A. Kenny Memorial Medal for his selfless actions.—JT