Copyright 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Lowell Sun (Lowell, MA)
By ROBERT MILLS
Lowell Sun
Fire Lt. Charlie Savard left his air mask hanging at his waist when he went into a smoke-filled Pawtucket Street apartment to save a 76-year-old woman in early January.
The daring rescue earned him Lowell’s Firefighter of the Year award.
Savard, 52, may have taken top honors for the Jan. 11 rescue at the Raymond J. Lord Manor, but there is a long list of names who gave Savard what he needed that night: faith.
Savard ignored his training when he left his air mask off so his voice wouldn’t be muffled as he called out in attempts to locate Martha Bassett, whose fifth-floor apartment was filled with smoke from a burning mattress and walls.
His first priority was to get inside and find Bassett, whom dispatchers had told him was believed to be inside.
“It was just a split-second decision that I made,” Savard said.
It was more than just bravery that drove the decision, though. There was Savard’s confidence in the three men donning their air masks at the very same door, all of whom were preparing to follow him inside.
There was also Savard’s faith in the crews from Engine 6, who were stretching fire hoses into the building to extinguish the fire, and his faith in the crews of Ladder 2 and the rescue truck, who were evacuating residents from the fourth, fifth and sixth floors.
Everyone at the scene was under the command of Deputy Chief Patrick McCabe, Savard said.
“You’ve got to have faith in everyone,” Savard said. “We all work as a team, and everything worked real well that night.”
He said faith is earned during long hours of training.
“We train with other groups and together all the time so we can build up confidence in each other,” Savard said.
Savard was familiar with the layout of the one-bedroom apartments thanks to walk-throughs and other calls there, and he saw space to breathe where the smoke hadn’t quite reached the floor yet.
Firefighter Jose Rivera forced Bassett’s door open with a pry-bar, and he joined Firefighter Richard Burgess and Capt. Mark McGuane in donning air masks as Savard went into the apartment and called for Bassett.
Just after Savard searched the kitchen and living room of the apartment, he heard the woman call from her bedroom.
She was on the floor next to her burning bed and told Savard she couldn’t move. Savard found her in a matter of seconds and yelled for help.
He, McGuane and Burgess dragged Bassett from the room and to safety. The blaze was then doused in about 10 minutes.
Bassett suffered only smoke inhalation and recovered after spending the night at Lowell General Hospital. Savard got a few mouthfuls of smoke but was also OK.
Rivera, Burgess and McGuane received Awards of Valor for their roles.
Savard has been with the Fire Department for 25 years, 14 of which have been on Engine 2, where he has worked with Burgess and driver Phil Gauvreau for the last six years.
The men are stationed at the Branch Street fire station along with Ladder 2 and its crew - Lt. Robert Destrempe, and firefighters Keith Poirier and Barry Gannon.
Also honored in a ceremony last weekend were Capt. Joseph Roth and firefighters John Bue, Lawrence Finn and Julio Pastrana, who saved another firefighter who had a heart attack in June, Chief William Desrosiers said. They got awards for distinguished conduct.
The crews of Engines 11 and 1 received company citations for a rescue on the Concord River earlier this year, and Engine 4 and the Rescue got company citations for a trench rescue in January, Desrosiers said.