and were advised that the suspect was in the area and began looking for him. Bell spotted the suspect hiding in a car parked in the lot. A shootout ensued. Bell was shot three times before being able to return fire. The suspect, Cody Ira Loron, was shot several times and later succumbed to his injuries. Officer Bell was shot five times; once in his hand, removing one of his fingers, once in the groin area, once in the clavicle area, and twice in his eye. Due to the severity of the damage caused by the bullets and their fragments, Bell’s eye will have to be removed. Initially the outcome of his recovery was very serious. He has since had surgery and is on the mend, doing well.
During his left-hand search, Lt. Rigdon found the child on the bed. After quickly determining that it was in fact a victim, Lt. Rigdon made his way back to the window with the child and handed him to firefighter Krebs of Engine 8 and Lt. Jenkins of Engine 2 moments before they made entry into the room. After care of the victim was transferred to EMS, Engine 8’s crew and Engine 2’s crew continued to search the house for any other possible victims. It was discovered upon rescuing the victim he had no pulse and no respirations. CPR was started immediately, with the aid of FF Guest, and the victim was resuscitated while en route to the hospital. For their service and brave actions, FF Travis Petrea and Lt. Danie Rigdon received the PFIA Hero’s Hall of Fame Award and Lt. Ralph Jenkins, FF Mary Guest, and FF Adam Krebs received PFIA Meritorious Service Awards.
Team Rescue
Heroes Hall of Fame & Meritorious Service Trapped Toddler On Feb. 10, 2013, Augusta, GA, firefighters responded to a structure fire in downtown Augusta. It was reported to the responding companies that there was possible entrapment of a toddler inside the burning structure. Upon arrival of the fire department, the entire left side of the structure was engulfed in flames. The family, panic stricken, was in the front yard of the house pointing and telling the firefighters which room the child was in. A ladder was placed in the window and without hesitation Engine companies 8 and 2 entered the structure. Once inside the room, the firefighters encountered extreme heat and heavy smoke conditions that provided zero visibility. Firefighter Petrea of Engine 2 started a right-hand search of the room while Lt. Rigdon started a left-hand search.
On Nov. 20, 2012, the Harrison (NJ) Fire Department was dispatched to a working fire at a 55-unit apartment complex with the possibility of a man trapped. Upon arrival, Captain John Dwyer, the incident commander at the scene, noted that there was smoke showing and signs of high heat in the windows. He was met with people in the street insisting there was a man in the apartment where the fire was originating. Engine 3 responded with Lieutenant Joe Lang, Firefighter William McMahon, and Firefighter Robert Underhill. Engine 1 also responded with Acting Lieutenant Dave Prina and Firefighter Joe Zicchinella.
the apartment where they were met with high heat and zero visibility. While Lt. Lang and A/Lt. Prina began a primary search of the apartment, outside Capt. Dwyer directed FF Underhill and FF Zicchinella to raise a ground ladder to the apartment’s balcony and begin a vent-enter-search operation from the opposite side of the apartment. FF McMahon was left to secure his own water source and manage water supply for interior operations. Due to low manpower and rescue taking priority, suppression operations had to be halted while a search was conducted. The victim was simultaneously located in the hallway between the bedroom and living room by both search teams. He was unconscious and burned, but still alive. He was a very large man, approximately 6’1” tall and weighed approx. 275 pounds. Lt.s Lang and Prina along with FFs Enderhill and Zicchinella were able to remove the victim outside to the balcony where lifesaving rescue breathing was administered. FF Zicchinella then re-entered the apartment and knocked down the remaining fire. Due to the victim’s size, a “reeves” stretcher was sent up to the balcony. The victim was placed on the reeves and removed from the building. The victim was turned over to EMS and transported ALS and UMDNJ. Had it not been for the extraordinary effort and team work displayed at this incident, there certainly would have been a much different outcome. For their actions, Captain John Dwyer received the Meritorious Service Award, Lieutenants Dave Prina and Joe Lang along with Firefighters William McMahon, Robert Underhill, and Joe Zicchinella received the Heroes Hall of Fame Award.
Lt. Lang and A/Lt. Prina stretched a line up to the second floor, following Capt. Dwyer up the stairs. They were met in the hallway by the occupant’s mother, screaming that her son was still in there. Lt. Lang and A/Lt. Prina forced the door to
Summer 2013 • The PFIA Protector
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