Daniel Fink was appointed in February 1996.
Assigned to EMS Battalion 35. Previously a member
of the Haz-Tac Unit. Other family member in
the FDNY is cousin, Battalion Chief John Linkletter.
Resides in Coram, Long Island, with wife, Lori,
and children, Danielle, 17, and Stephen, 13.
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Returning from a meeting at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s
office, Paramedic Daniel Fink joined his partner and headed
for their assigned response area. As they came to Flushing
and Bushwick Avenues, the sight of a fire greeted them.
Flames were coming out of the ground-floor windows of a
three-story residence. While his partner radioed for assistance,
Paramedic Fink tried to enter the burning building, but
was turned away by a heavy fire condition. When he stepped
back to gaze at the building, he noticed a small child--frozen
in a state of obvious panic--standing in the window of the
second floor. Paramedic Fink, knowing that there was no
way he was going to leave the child to die, returned to
the front door. As a former member of the Coram Volunteer
Fire Department, Paramedic Fink’s training came back
to him, as he immediately dropped to his knees and entered
the heavy smoke. Although he had no protective clothing,
he attempted to make his way up to the second floor. Through
the low visibility, he spied the door to the child’s
apartment, but could not proceed because the fire had blocked
his access. Paramedic Fink quickly retreated from the burning
structure and ran to an adjacent building--a one-story garage
housing an auto repair facility. Using the mechanism of
the roll-up door, Paramedic Fink shimmied up to the roof
and made his way to the kitchen window. There, he not only
removed the child, but also her older sister, who had come
to the window, screaming for help. After a neighbor provided
a ladder, the child was lowered from the garage to the street.
However, Paramedic Fink still had more work to do: the older
sister had suffered a severe asthma attack and required
immediate attention. Paramedic Fink moved the young woman
to the far side of the garage roof and, using the equipment
from a medical bag provided by an engine company that had
arrived on the scene, successfully treated his patient.
After stabilizing her, she was lowered to the street. Because
he acted without concern for his own safety, demonstrated
courage, as well as resourcefulness and placed himself at
great personal risk to save the lives of two civilians,
Paramedic Daniel Fink proudly is awarded the Christopher
J. Prescott Medal for 1998.--BDG
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