Uniformed Fire Officers Association Medal LIEUTENANT JONATHAN M. SHIELDS LADDER COMPANY 7 March 16, 2009, 1551 hours, Box 75-733, 58 West 36th Street, Manhattan Appointed to the FDNY on August 19, 1990. Previously assigned to Ladders 33 and 51. Brother, FF Patrick Shields, is assigned to Ladder 37 and uncle, Lieutenant Richard McKenna, is retired from Engine 66. Member of the Emerald and Holy Name Societies. Recipient of the Walter Scott Medal in 1999 and a Class III in 1998. Holds an Associate degree from SUNY, Delhi. Resides in Cold Spring, New York.
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perating above the fire without a charged hose-line in place is one of the most dangerous positions for a Firefighter. However, it was all in a day’s work for Lieutenant Jonathan M. Shields, Ladder 7, assigned seconddue to Box 75-733 for smoke from the third-floor window at 58 West 56th Street. The building in question is a five-story, 20- by 60-foot, class 3 brownstone with no fire escapes. Making their way into the building, members of Ladder 7, led by Lieutenant Shields, observed fire blowing out the front windows on the third floor. When members reached the fire floor, they faced poor visibility and high heat. The occupant had left the apartment door open when she fled the fire apartment, exposing the open interior stairway and all floors above to super-heated gases and dense smoke. The Officer notified members operating on the fire floor, who were waiting for water, that Ladder 7 members were proceeding above the fire to begin primary searches and check for fire extension. Reaching the apartment directly over the fire, Lieutenant Shields and his forcible entry team found the door open and the entire apartment fully charged with heavy smoke. The Lieutenant ordered his members not to vent the front windows because fire was still venting from the floor below and he did not want to risk auto-exposure of the fire. The primary searches proved negative in apartment 3A on the fourth floor. Suddenly, Lieutenant Shields heard Ladder 43’s roof Firefighter transmit that a woman was trapped on the windowsill on the top-floor rear apartment. Sensing the urgency and with a known life hazard, Lieutenant Shields and his inside team braved the brutal conditions and went to the top floor to search for the trapped woman. Accessing apartment 4B on the fifth floor, once again, the rescuers were confronted with open doors, both to the bedroom and the one to the public hallway, causing noxious, black smoke and extreme heat that
mushroomed throughout the apartment. Searching through floor-to-ceiling dense smoke, the members of Ladder 7 stayed low and used the sound of the woman’s cries for help as a beacon. Lieutenant Shields made his way into the rear bedroom and made physical contact with the victim, who was trapped on the windowsill, gasping for air. The Officer pulled her back to safety. He tried to calm her as best he could, but it was difficult, due to a language barrier. Taking the woman down the open interior stairs and through the thick, black smoke and oven-like conditions was not a good option. Although Rescue 1 and Ladder 43 Firefighters were preparing for a lifesaving rope rescue, Lieutenant Shields decided it was best to protect her in place until she could be removed safely. Ladder 43’s roof Firefighter stayed outside the window and on the rope, keeping everyone near the window until the engine had a positive water supply and the fire was knocked down. If the Firefighters on the fire floor lost control of the fire apartment, the lifesaving rope could be used as a last resort. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Shields provided the victim with fresh air by removing windows from the window frame to vent the heavily charged, top-floor apartment. The Officer held her head out the window, below the smoke, so she could breathe fresh air, while simultaneously reassuring her that she was safe. As soon as the fire was knocked down, Lieutenant Shields helped the woman to the street and transferred her care to EMS personnel. Suffering from smoke inhalation, the woman was transported and admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital. For rescuing a woman under extreme conditions without benefit of a charged hose-line in place, the FDNY proudly presents Lieutenant Jonathan Shields with the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Medal.--JK
The brothers Shields--Patrick and Jonathan.
FIRE DEPARTMENT, CITY OF NEW YORK • MEDAL DAY 2010
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