Valor Awards
2016 NJSPBA
Valor Awards
Lifesaving Award
Patrolman Anthony D’ Onofrio Sergeant Michael Gaines
Sayreville Local 98
Where there’ s smoke, there is a boy to save
A normal smoke condition was on the verge of escalating to a fully involved house fire on the morning of Jan. 9, 2016, when Sayreville Local 98 Sergeant Michael Gaines and Patrolman Anthony D’ Onofrio arrived on scene. The officers had moved members of the family safely out of the residence and across the street, when the mother started screaming.
“ My son went back inside. My son went back inside,” Sergeant Gaines recounted of the mother’ s frantic exclamation.
Why would a 10-year-old boy run back into the burning house? Well, when you’ re autistic and you’ re scared, you look for your comfort zone. This boy had one in a first-floor bathroom.
Gaines understood the situation. After being at the Valor Awards, he talked about how his own son is on the autism spectrum. So he knew this boy would be looking for a safe-haven somewhere near some water.
With information that there was a bathroom on the first floor just past the kitchen, D’ Onofrio went in with a fire extinguisher
58 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2016
to knock down flames that were already rolling across the first floor. Gaines made it to the bathroom, kicked down the door and found the boy in the shower with the water running.
“ I didn’ t think about getting out. The boy was kicking and screaming and just traumatized,” Gaines described.“ It was all so fast and fluid, and thankfully so, because I don’ t think we would have had much more time. When we made it across the street and looked back at the house fully involved, then it kind of hit us.”
Gaines and D’ Onofrio, who was not able to attend the Valor Awards ceremony, escorted the homeless family back to the police station and made arrangements for Red Cross to come in with help. Finally, Gaines had a chance to catch his breath and head home after the tour.
“ When I was driving home that morning, I called my wife and I told her this is something I know I never experienced in all the years prior. I hope I never have to do it again,” he related.“ Then when I got home, I just hugged my son.” d