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MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND FIRE COMMISSIONER NICHOLAS
SCOPPETTA HONOR FIRE DEPARTMENT HEROES AT FIRST MEDAL DAY SINCE 9/11
58 Firefighters, Officers and Marshals Awarded Medals for
Bravery
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today
honored the heroes of the New York Fire Department (FDNY) at the 2003 Medal
Day Ceremony at Pace University. The ceremony honored 58 firefighters,
fire officers and fire marshals for exceptional acts of bravery performed during
2002. The recipients were cited for life saving work at fires, structural
collapses,
arson investigations and water rescues.
“It’s a privilege to join the brave members of the FDNY for medal
day,” said Mayor Bloomberg, “Each year New Yorkers are astonished
by the selfless acts of the members of this department. Today we recognize
those firefighter, officers and marshals for their heroic acts. Members of
the FDNY cradle babies while running through burning buildings, rescue people
out of impossible circumstances and turn back into fires to search for more
victims. And sometimes they make the ultimate sacrifice. Today we honor to
the bravest of the bravest and the members of this great department who responded
to the terrible events of 9/11.”
I want to congratulate all those receiving medals today,” said
Commissioner Scoppetta. “You have exhibited unparalleled bravery in some
of the toughest conditions imaginable. Every medal presented represents a
selfless act of courage, a life saved and a firefighter that put himself
in harm’s
way, ensuring the safety of a stranger. Today you are recognized as the bravest
of the Bravest.”
A special symbolic presentation of Medals was made at the ceremony to honor
all of those who responded to the World Trade Center on and after 9/11.
Three Firefighters and one member of the EMS Command were chosen to represent
the
more than 14,500 members of the department that took part in the response,
rescue and recovery efforts. Those receiving the WTC Medals were:
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Captain
Alfredo Fuentes – representing members receiving Survivor
Medals, those that were on-scene and survived the collapses.
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Firefighter
Richard Cannon – representing members receiving Rescuer
Medals, those that operated on-scene after the towers collapsed until
the last
survivor was found on September 12, 2001.
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Firefighter Edward Cammon – representing
members receiving Campaign Medals, those that participated in the
recovery effort.
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EMS Lieutenant Rene Davila – representing all
members of EMS receiving Survivor, Rescuer or Campaign Medals.
The following award winners and rescue stories were among today’s
highlights:
The Dr. Harry M. Archer Medal, which is presented every three years to one
of the three preceding winners of the prestigious James Gordon Bennett
Medal, was presented to Battalion Chief John Pritchard. Chief Pritchard
was cited
for the daring rescue of an infant from its melting playpen in an apartment
fire in 1998. Upon arrival at the fire, the child’s mother alerted Chief
Pritchard, who at the time was the Captain of Engine Company 255, that
her child was trapped in their fourth floor apartment. He radioed for Engine
255
to respond to the fourth floor and then entered the apartment. Chief Pritchard
crawled to the infant’s room pushing through the intense smoke and heat
to rescue the helpless child.
The James Gordon Bennett Medal, which is presented
annually for the most outstanding act of bravery within the Fire Department
during the last year,
was awarded to Battalion Chief James Marketti of Battalion 31. Chief
Marketti, who was working in Battalion 48 at the time, was coordinating
interior operations on the third floor of a fire in a private dwelling in Brooklyn.
Upon reaching
his assigned floor, he found an unconscious 16-year old girl on the
floor
of a bedroom and successfully brought her to the hallway where a member
of Ladder
Company 157 met them and removed the victim out of the building. Chief
Marketti then crawled into the same bedroom and found a second victim—a
five-year old child. Using his body he shielded the child from the searing
heat and handed
him to another member of FDNY who took the boy out of the building for
treatment. Firefighter Daniel Powers of Engine Company 250 received
the Thomas E. Crimmins
Medal for his rescue at the same fire.
Other honorees included four Staten Island firefighters that worked as a
team in the rescue of a construction worker who was trapped in a building
collapse. On May 23, 2002, Lieutenant Denis Driscoll and Firefighter Anthony
Cavalieri
of Rescue 5, and Firefighters Timothy McCauley and Stephen Fenley of Ladder
78 crawled through a 14-inch space to rescues an injured worker who was
pinned face down in four inches of wet cement. The victim was transported to
St. Vincent’s
Hospital with a broken leg and chemical burns, Firefighter Cavalieri sustained
chemical burns from the concrete and the other members of the rescue team
were also treated for injuries and taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Contact:
Ed Skyler/Jordan Barowitz (212) 788-2958
Francis X. Gribbon (FDNY) (718) 999-2056
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