By Robert Mills
The Lowell Sun
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Three firefighters got an elderly woman, rendered unconscious by smoke, out of the bathroom of her burning home on Lincoln Street, and seven others fought a fire that claimed two lives but saved nine in the process.
Lowell firefighters gathered for their annual ball at the Radison Hotel in Chelmsford on Saturday night, giving out awards for meritorious service, valor and firefighters of the year.
Firefighter Don Milinazzo was the first firefighter to be recognized for his efforts battling a four-alarm fire Oct. 10, 2010, at 353 Bridge St.
Milinazzo was driving a ladder truck that night. Residents trapped on the third and fourth floors were in such dire danger as the fire quickly spread that Milinazzo had to extend his truck’s ladder before its support gear was down.
On top of that, he had to get the ladder in between live power lines so that residents on the fourth floor could be saved.
Firefighter Russ Fisette was the first man up the ladder, and helped coax residents out a window and onto the safety of the truck. Fisette and Milinazzo were given Awards of Valor.
Capt. Brett Dowling, Lt. Jason Strunk and firefighters John Diaz and Roberto Maldonado were named Firefighters of the Year for their efforts inside the doomed and rapidly burning building.
Deputy Chief Michael Donnelly, who was also lauded by Fire Chief Edward Pitta for his work commanding efforts to battle the blaze, along with Deputy Chief John Dowling, who choked up a bit as he recounted the work his men had done.
“This would soon become a night many of us will never forget,” Donnelly said.
Crowley, Strunk, Diaz and Maldonado went into the building’s fourth floor at the height of the fire in search of a man who was reported missing.
Dowling found him, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, but the firefighters battled to get the man out as flames roiled over their heads and multiple horns sounded outside to order them out.
“They were out of air and in great danger,” Donnelly recounted.
After anxious minutes as horns sounded and no one emerged, the four firefighters dragged the body of a man out a fourth-floor window and onto a balcony, where all five remained trapped for a time.
Firefighters on the ground were forced to spray their four colleagues on the balcony with a high-pressure water hose to keep at bay flames erupting from windows behind them.
Two men died in the blaze. Another was critically injured when he fell from a fourth-floor window. Nine people were saved, even though they could not get out of the building on their own due to heavy fire in the hallways and stairways.
Maldonado and Fisette were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. Strunk was taken to the hospital with a back injury and smoke inhalation.
Firefighter Anthony Cronk, Lt. Ryan Carvalho, and Lt. Charlie Savard each received a meritorious service award for rescuing an elderly woman from 74 Lincoln St. on March 26.
Crews were called to a fire and found smoke coming from the building about 3 a.m. They learned that everyone but an elderly woman had already escaped.
Battling heat and smoke inside, firefighters found the elderly woman unconscious on a bathroom floor. Her position in the small bathroom made it tough to get the woman outside, but after several minutes she was pulled to safety. The woman survived and was treated at a hospital. She now lives in Lowell with her daughter, Pitta said.
Pitta said that while the men honored went above and beyond what is expected, each member of the department does incredible work.
“I think the members of this department do fantastic work every day of the year,” Pitta said. “Not all fires make the news or the paper, but they’re no less dangerous, and no less work.”
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