ICYMI: 5 Parsippany Firefighters To Be Honored For Saving Woman's Life

Editor's Note: ICYMI, or "In Case You Missed It," highlights one of the site's biggest stories from the past week.

It’s a scene out of a movie – hundreds of movies, actually – the brave police officer or firefighter puts himself in harm’s way to help others.

In Morris County, there’s no script or movie director, yet the scenes are real life with trained first responders. And now they’re being honored for their bravery.

The annual 200 Club has announced its award recipients from 2015 for acts of valor and merit spanning both professional and volunteer police and firefighters.

A total of 39 first responders will be honored at the April 28 ceremony.

“We’re very lucky to have individuals like these keeping us safe here in Morris County,” said James M. Gannon, president of the 200 Club. “It’s an honor to recognize their good work.”

The following are being honored for their efforts, as described by the 200 Club:

• Northern New Jersey EMS Communications Dispatcher Jo-Ann Mellor; Saint Clare’s Hospital paramedics James Correale and Sarah Crellin; and Denville Fire Department members Kevin Andreano, assistant chief, Kyle Colin, firefighter/EMT, Travis Dean, first aid lieutenant, Bill Keating, first aid captain, Edward Saniewski, past deputy fire chief, and Chris Seugling, assistant fire chief. This group of people came together in response to a possible drowning of a 13-year-old boy in a pool. The team worked together to resuscitate the boy, who survived with almost no ill effects. These nine first responders are receiving a Meritorious Team Award.
• Parsippany Fire Department District 5 members Pat Calabrese, firefighter, David Cavaliere, past chief; Anthony Condurso, firefighter; Carl Fales, firefighter; and Michael Lambert, lieutenant. While these volunteer firefighters were preparing for the department’s weekly work session, a car pulled into the firehouse driveway. The man driving the car said his wife was unresponsive and not breathing. The firefighters immediately began caring for the woman, performing CPR and using an automatic external defibrillator, until EMTs and paramedics arrived. The woman made a full recovery. For their actions, these five firefighters are receiving a Meritorious Team Award.
• New Jersey State Troopers Richard Dowling and Andrew Koehler, along with State Police Detective I Anthony Sardanopoli, were en route to an assignment when they came across a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 in Rockaway. Although the car was smoking, the troopers worked together to rescue the badly injured man, who was trapped in the vehicle. Using fire extinguishers to keep flames at bay, the trio provided care for the man for almost 20 minutes before additional help arrived. They then created a zone of safety for other first responders to work. It took 30 minutes for firefighters to remove the man, who was airlifted to the hospital. The man survived his injuries, thanks to the troopers. The three men are receiving Meritorious Awards for their actions.
• Sergeants Michael G. Dachisen Jr. and Jason R. Tozzi are receiving Meritorious Awards for their actions during the initial response to a possible drowning in White Meadow Lake on a cold winter’s night. By working together and using a borrowed canoe, the pair rescued one man who had fallen out of a canoe. Unfortunately, a second canoeist perished.
• East Hanover Police Officers Jesse M. Novalis and Joseph A. Zeppetelli, and East Hanover Fire Capt. Joseph J. Sperli entered a home filled with natural gas and rescued a 39-year-old woman who was using the gas in a suicide attempt. Capt. Sperli then went back in the house to ensure that the gas was off and opened windows and doors to ventilate the home. Capt. Sperli was off duty at the time. Each is being presented with a Meritorious Award.
• Rockaway Borough Police Officers Peter Krowiak and James Lommatzsch, and Rockaway Borough Fire Department members Jeffrey Heintzelman, second assistant chief, and Robert Smith, firefighter The four men responded to a house fire in which a 75-year-old woman was inside, panicking because her disabled son was upstairs. Krowiak and Lommatzsch were first on the scene and were able to quickly rescue the woman. Officer Krowiak went back into the house through heavy smoke and heat to try to rescue the woman’s son. After tending briefly to the mother, Lommatzsch followed him in. The pair was trying to carry the man down the stairs as burning ceiling tiles fell around them and the fire intensified. Heintzelman, who responded directly to the scene and had no turnout gear, and Smith met the two police officers and assisted them with removing the handicapped, badly burned man to waiting EMS. While the mother survived the fire, the son did not. Both police officers were treated for smoke inhalation. Officer Krowiak suffered permanent damage to his nasal passages and lost his sense of smell. For their efforts, Krowiak and Lommatzsch are being awarded the Award of Valor and Heintzelman and Smith are being honored with Meritorious Awards.
• Valor Awards will be presented to First Assistant Fire Chief Tyler Wargo of the Flanders Fire & Rescue Co. #1 and to Mount Olive Township Patrolmen John Bevacqua and David Hering for rescuing a blind man trapped in a burning apartment. Arriving at the scene of the apartment fire moments apart, the three learned the 86-year-old man was still inside. The police officers called to the man, but he refused to come out because he was concerned that his wife was still inside. The three men, none of them with protective clothing or breathing apparatus, moved into the smoke-filled apartment to lead the man out. Although no engine company had arrived on scene with water, Wargo tried to go back into the apartment to search for the woman. Heavy smoke and heat pushed him back. It was later confirmed that there was nobody else inside the apartment.
• Valiant rescue work by two off-duty New Jersey State troopers and a Mount Olive Township police officer at a house fire led to each receiving an Award of Valor for rescuing a woman. New Jersey State Troopers Adam Gonzalez and Justin Storie spotted the house fire on their way home after their shift at the Netcong Barracks. After calling in the fire, they went to the house and could hear a woman calling for help. Mount Olive Patrolman George Jadue arrived moments later. The trio worked together to rescue the woman. The three then re-entered the home to confirm that the woman’s son was not there. All three rescuers were treated for smoke inhalation and cuts and bruises and released. The woman also was treated for smoke inhalation and released.
• Kinnelon Borough Patrolmen Mark Ehrenburg and Rickey Ferriola are being honored for rescuing a woman trapped in a car that had crashed, rolled onto its roof and started burning. With the fire growing in intensity, the two officers worked together to cut the victim’s seat belt and remove her from the burning car. In Hollywood style, the car burst into flames just as the two patrolmen pulled the woman through the window of the car. The woman made a full recovery and was charged with driving while intoxicated and several other charges. Ehrenburg and Ferriola will receive the Award of Valor for the efforts.

• Pequannock Township Police Officers Kenneth R. Hunt, Jack Lyon, Christopher S. Nelson and Kevin E. Ricciardi will receive Awards of Valor for their desperate attempts to free a man from a burning car. The incident began with a minor car crash. When officers arrived to investigate, the driver, who appeared to be disoriented, took off from the first crash scene and led police on a chase. At one point in the chase, the driver crossed the line and slammed head-on into an on-coming car, which burst into flames. Fighting off the intensifying flames with their fire extinguishers, the officers attempted to free the heavily entrapped man. Unable to do so, they continued to try to keep the flames away and rendered what care they could. The man was finally freed by the Wayne Township Fire Department and taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
• Hanover Township Patrolman Robert L. Carpenter III arrived at a motor vehicle accident with injuries on Interstate 287 South. He positioned his SUV across the roadway to protect the passengers involved in the crash and two State Troopers working the roadway among the parts on the road. As he did so, he observed headlights in his rear view mirror, noticing that the approaching vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and not slowing. Moving his vehicle would have prevented a collision with his police unit, but would have resulted in the vehicle smashing into the already-injured civilians and the troopers. Carpenter pushed the brake pedal down as hard as he could and braced himself. Seconds later, the speeding vehicle slammed into Carpenter’s SUV. The driver of the car that hit Carpenter was found to be under the influence. Carpenter survived the horrific crash and is being presented with an Award of Valor. In an ironic footnote, Carpenter usually drives a sedan which would not have absorbed the impact as well as the SUV did.