Lieutenant from Engine Company 75 receives top fire operations medal at 2026 FDNY Medal Day for locating and removing an unconscious victim from a burning building in the Bronx

June 3, 2026

Lieutenant Patrick T. Donlon, of Engine Company 75, was honored with the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and NYS Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal—the top fire operations medal—at the FDNY's 157th Medal Day Ceremony for locating and removing an unconscious victim from a burning building in the Bronx.

At about 4 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2025, Engine Company 75 arrived as the first due company to a six-story apartment in the Bronx with heavy smoke showing and reports of trapped occupants.

Knowing his company would be operating solo until additional units arrived on scene, Lt. Donlon entered the building without the protection of a hoseline as the fire rapidly intensified. With civilians trapped, he crawled past heavy fire and thick smoke and used a thermal imaging camera to locate the victim, shielding them from the heavy flames and then removed them through the public hallway. Lt. Donlon handed the victim off to members from Engine Company 48 and then re-entered the building to help extinguish the fire.

"Lieutenant Donlon put himself at great personal risk while operating at a Bronx fire where there were reports of multiple people trapped," FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said. "He was able to battle a fire fueled by a door left open and heavy clutter to successfully remove a victim from the fire-involved apartment."

"It's surreal to be getting the top award at the Fire Department," Lt. Donlon said at the 2026 Medal Day Ceremony. "I just never thought that something like this would happen."

Donlon was appointed to the FDNY on Dec. 11, 2017. He was previously assigned to Engine Company 257 and Tower Ladder Company 170 as a firefighter. His father, Firefighter Timothy Donlon, is assigned to Ladder 175 and received the Thomas F. Dougherty Medal at this year's Medal Day—marking the first time a father and son both received medals on the same day in the Department's history.

Lieutenant Patrick T. Donlon, of Engine Company 75, was honored with the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and NYS Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal at the FDNY's 157th Medal Day Ceremony.