By Larry Alexander
Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2007 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
LANCASTER, Pa. — It was the kind of heat Lancaster firefighters enjoy - the heat of the spotlight, as two of their number won commendations and four were promoted.
Firefighter Leander Toney and Lt. Kenneth Wright received commendations from Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray during a City Council meeting Tuesday. The two rescued three members of a family - a mother and two children - from a house fire last summer.
“It’s great that we’re able to honor them in front of City Council,” fire Chief Tim Gregg said. “These two individuals did a very good job with the rescue; they saved three citizens’ lives. And it means a lot to the two firefighters to be recognized like this before council and the mayor.”
City Council President Julianne Dickson bestowed the thanks of council on Wright and Toney. Dickson said such deeds safeguard the residents of Lancaster and reflect well on the city.
Toney, Wright and others arrived on the scene of the fire at 465 S. Plum St. at 3:30 a.m. Sept. 5. There, Toney said, he saw two children at an upstairs window screaming for help “while smoke was billowing out over top of them.”
Lt. Brian Klugh, who presented the commendations, said the fire was “of the worst possible” kind, with entrapment. However, Toney and Wright talked to the children, keeping them calm. Toney steadied a ladder while Wright quickly scaled it. When he got to the top he discovered not just two children, but their mother as well.
“In textbook fashion,” Klugh said, the three were brought down the ladder and taken to waiting ambulances to be checked by emergency personnel
Toney, who joined the fire department in 1994, said he felt honored by the commendation.
“We’re trained to do what we do, and that day everything came together and we were able to save that family,” he said.
Wright, also a longtime veteran of the fire department, recalled times he helped carry bodies from fire scenes. Bringing the family out alive, he said, “was great.”
“It’s always nice to pull people out alive,” he said. “I just praise God we were able to get them before they perished in the fire. It was a team effort, and everyone pulled together. It was a great rescue.”
Also Tuesday, Gregg introduced two new lieutenants to council.
John M. Pugliese, who joined the Bureau of Fire in 1993, is the first city firefighter to receive national certification in fire and arson explosion. A city native, he is a 1983 graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School.
Angel R. Sanchez, a 23-year veteran of the fire department, is a certified haz-mat technician.
In 2005, he spent 42 days helping with relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Born in Puerto Rico, Sanchez is a McCaskey graduate.
Promoted but not present Tuesday were David W. Hamric, a 13-year veteran and the 2005 Firefighter of the Year, and Carl E. Everhart, a 13-year veteran who was Outstanding Firefighter of the Year in 2002.