Mid Hudson Times May 02 2018 | Page 3
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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, May 2, 2018
City firemen recognized for bravery
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
A train derailment. A rescue from the
icy water of Muchattoes Lake. A toxic
chemical fire. These were just some of
the calls handled by City of Newburgh
firefighters last year.
The firefighters were honored at an
awards ceremony, held at Newburgh
City Hall this month. About a dozen
or so firefighters were recognized with
citations and awards for heroic actions
taken in the line of duty.
“Thank you for what you do,” Orange
County Deputy Commissioner of Fire
Services Vini Tankasali said to the
gathered firefighters. “I know a lot of you
will say, ‘We don’t need a thank you. This
is what we do. This is what our job is.’
But, what you guys do and… what you’ve
done makes the rest of us firefighters
throughout the county, throughout the
state, proud of what we do.”
Several harrowing incidents were
recounted at the ceremony. One involved
the rescue of a man who fell through the
ice atop Muchattoes Lake on a frigid day in
February. “Both men made their way out
to the victim,” explained city Assistant
Fire Chief Ed Petricek. “The person being
rescued from the near-freezing water was
in a great deal of distress at the time.”
By the time he was brought back to
shore, he was drifting in and out of
consciousness, Petricek said. He was
transported to St. Luke’s Cornwall
Hospital where he eventually recovered.
Firefighters Joseph Bedetti and Jordan
Cichy were both nominated with the Life
Saving Award for their actions at the lake.
In one very disturbing incident, city
firefighters responded to a man who
had set fire to himself at the Citgo gas
station on Broadway. City firefighters
also rescued victims in car accidents,
used Narcan to revive people from drug
overdoses and helped to avert catastrophe
when a train carrying sulfuric acid and
other hazardous materials derailed along
the CSX rail line at the Newburgh-New
Windsor border.
But, the Verla International cosmetics
plant fire turned deadly when, on
November 20, an explosion ignited a
chemical fire that took the life of one
plant employee and injured about 30
others, including eight city fire fighters.
“As they walked into a building an
explosion erupted, instantly engulfing the
four members of a search team in a wall of
fire,” Chuck Schumer’s Regional Director
Allison Biasotti read from a letter written
From left: (Front row) Firefighters Marquis Taylor and Jose Palomino; (Back row) Assistant Chief Edward Petricek, Acting Fire Chief Terry
Ahlers, Lt. Brendan Hogan, Asst. Chief Bill Horton, firefighter Christopher O’Dell, Lt. Dan Rhode, firefighter Levi Miles, Lt. Joseph LoCicero,
firefighter Joseph Bedetti and Capt. Matthew Moriello.
by the senator. A search rope they were
using quickly burned through, leaving
firefighters Nicholas Bedetti and Anu
Flippin trapped and completely separated
from their crew. Their rescue was a tale of
“real-life superheroes,” Schumer wrote.
Firefighters initiated a search for
the trapped firemen, operating in an
“unstable environment,” Ahlers said,
“with unknown conditions, zero visibility,
with barrels of acetone and alcohol
surrounding them.”
Eventually, Bedetti found a hole in
an exterior wall that was caused by the
explosion and he began to climb out. But,
Bedetti soon found “he had nothing left to
climb,” Ahlers said. “Flippin then pushed
and lifted Bedetti the rest of the way…”
the fire chief said. “Fireman Bedetti
stayed long enough to reach down and
pull Flippin out the exterior opening.”
Flippin and Bedetti’s actions, pushing
and pulling each other up and out of the
opening of the wall, were courageous and
heroic,” Ahlers asserted. “There is no
doubt in my mind they saved each other’s
lives.”
The crew of Engi ne#1 were issued unit
citations for their actions that day. Bedetti
and Flippin were both bestowed the Medal
of Valor. About two dozen others citations
and awards were given out during the
ceremony.
City of Newburgh firefighters respond
to an average of 3,000 calls each year,
Ahlers said. A third are made up of
alarms, fires and building gas leaks.
Another third come in as rescue calls and
outdoor fires, he said.
Orange County Commissioner of
Emergency Services Brendan Casey
thanked the firefighters for their
assistance in a host of incidents in the
county. “No one department can do this
work alone,” he said.
The awards ceremony is usually
reserved for family and close friends of
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fire personnel, Ahlers said. This year,
he wanted to make their heroism known
the public. “It is my hope that these
gentlemen understand how their work
and actions are appreciated,” he said.
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