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On the late spring afternoon of April 25, 2003, at 1609 hours, Ladder 10 was assigned first due to an alarm of fire at a commercial establishment at 90 Washington Street, in the borough of Manhattan. Arriving at the Box, Lieutenant Matthew Donachie learned that there was a fire in the cellar with a person trapped. Entering the building, thick and heavy black smoke was pushing up through the first-floor openings from the cellar area. The Lieutenant deployed a search rope and then proceeded down the stairs. He moved approximately 50 feet down a corridor to a second flight of stairs. This second set of stairs led down to an electrical switching room. Lieutenant Donachie slid down this second set of stairs. He immediately became aware of increasing heat radiating down from the ceiling level. Inside the door to the switching room was a free-burning fire that apparently had started from the explosion/failure of a four-foot-wide by eight-foot-tall, 480-volt, 2000-amp switching box. The fire was spreading to the room contents. However, the victim had not been found yet. A hose-line was called for and the forcible entry team was stationed at the door. Despite the fire already spreading to the next room and without the protection of a hose-line yet in place, Lieutenant Donachie ordered his members to stand fast outside the fire room. The Officer then entered the active fire room alone even though the electric power was still live and actively burning, thus placing himself at great personal risk. Lieutenant Donachie found the unconscious and burned victim, Michael Cooper, in this room. He transmitted a 10-45 and dragged the man to the entrance of the switch room, where Ladder 10 members assisted. The inside team swiftly but carefully moved the large and burly, six-foot victim through the thickening smoke, in zero visibility, along the full length of the narrow and cluttered hallway. Because of the victim’s size, the outside team assisted in carrying him up the stairs. It is with certainty that Mr. Cooper would have perished if not for Lieutenant Donachie’s timely and valiant efforts. Indeed, Mr. Cooper suffered third-degree burns and was transported to the Cornell Burn Center. For searching, rescuing and removing this victim, without the protection of a hose-line, Lieutenant Matthew Donachie officially is recognized for his bravery and presented the Thomas E. Crimmins Medal.--TDM |
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Thomas
E. Crimmins Medal
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