2007 Valor Awards Recipients

Just after midnight on May 30, 2007, the engine responded  to 7109 Donnell Place for an apartment fire.  Units encountered a four-story garden style apartment building with fire showing from all four floors in the rear of the building.  The engine positioned to the rear of the building and advanced an attack line through the ground level apartment unit.  The six crew members consisting of  Driver David Hansen, Captain John Lyon, Firefighter Eric Nellis, Firefighter Paul Burley, Firefighter Tim Ormerod, and Firefighter/Paramedic Christopher Hammond advanced the hose line to the first floor of the apartment building and initiated an attack on the fire while in an environment of high heat and zero visibility.  As the crew was operating the hose line, the evacuation order was sounded ordering all personnel out of the building.  Upon exiting the building, Captain Lyon conducted an accountability of his crew and realized that one crew member was unaccounted for.  Firefighter Ormerod did not exit the building with his crew.  Captain Lyon immediately relayed this information to command via his radio.  The crew reentered the terrace level apartment under rapidly deteriorating fire conditions and retraced there means of egress in an attempt to locate Firefighter Ormerod.  Firefighter Hammond, Firefighter Nellis, and Firefighter Paul Burley located Firefighter Ormerod, who had lost his helmet and face piece, at the base of a stairwell where he had slid head first down the stairs.  Realizing that Firefighter Ormerod was in severe distress, Firefighter Hammond removed his face piece and placed it on Firefighter Ormerod providing him with an  uncontaiminated air supply.  With assistance of the other crew members they were able to remove him from the apartment building and place him in the care of the medics for treatment and transport.