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by JEFF HARRELL
He may have had less than a year on the job, but Firefighter Michael A. Pannell of Ladder Co. 79 in West Brighton showed the heroic instincts of a veteran by rescuing an unconscious victim from inside a burning building.
For his brave efforts on the morning of April 5, 2003, Pannell, 26, of Great Kills, was named Fire Officer of the Year during an awards ceremony co-sponsored by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Advance yesterday in Harbor Manor, located on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Livingston.
Fire Officer of the Year nominees Gary W. Persch and James M. McHale also were honored for freeing a construction worker who had been trapped in a collapsed trench.
Persch, 48, of Eltingville, a 17-year FDNY veteran assigned to Engine Co. 158 in Mariners Harbor, was awarded the Captain John J. Drennan Memorial Medal.
McHale, 38, of Willowbrook, a six-year FDNY veteran currently assigned to Ladder Co. 86 in Graniteville, took home the Firefighter Kevin C. Kane Medal.
'EXTRAORDINARY DEEDS'
"This means a great deal to members of their families," said FDNY Chief of Operations Sal Cassano, a Huguenot resident.
"These are ordinary people doing extraordinary deeds."
Along with Fire Officer of the Year honors, Pannell, a firefighter since July 2002, also received the Dr. John F. Connell Medal.
The rookie firefighter was working the night tour April 5 when a call came in shortly after 7 a.m. that a blaze had broken out on the second floor of a vacant commercial storefront at 1939 Richmond Terr. in Port Richmond. The building was known as a haven for the homeless.
Pannell and Firefighter Joseph Chin followed Lt. Thomas Costa into the building, but the ferocious flames and thick smoke made seeing anything nearly impossible. When Pannell and Chin entered a space being used as a bedroom, the intense heat forced Pannell to drop to the floor as he searched for victims.
Crawling, Pannell shone his flashlight on the face of an unconscious male. Pannell and Chin grabbed the victim, pulled him out of the room to the top of the stairs, and checked for vital signs. The victim seemed lifeless, but Pannell administered two quick rescue breaths before he and Chin removed the man from the building and turned him over to the waiting arms of EMS personnel.
The victim was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, West Brighton, and treated for second- and third-degree burns over half his body, as well as severe smoke inhalation. He survived.
"You have to think," Pannell said yesterday, holding his Fire Officer of the Year award. "But this is something [a firefighter does] that comes naturally. You just react."
Persch and McHale were both on detail duty with West Brighton's Engine Co. 156 on Dec. 15 last year at about 3 p.m. when they responded to a report of a possible cardiac victim who had fallen into a hole on Taylor Street near DeGroot Place in West Brighton.
Upon arrival, the firefighters saw construction equipment near a trench, where they were met by two police officers who informed them that one construction worker was dead and another was trapped. Both victims, cops said, were working 15 feet down in a 30-foot-long trench when it partially collapsed and buried them.
BURIED UP TO CHEST
Persch and McHale used a ladder to climb down into the opening, braving dirt walls that were on the verge of further collapse. When they reached the surviving victim, a 66-year-old worker who was buried up to his chest in loose soil, the firefighters began digging feverishly with their hands and small shovels to free him.
The two firefighters also gave oxygen to the victim, who had inhaled a large amount of dust when the trench collapsed.
The man was treated at St. Vincent's Hospital.
McHale admitted to working on a "heavy adrenaline rush" whenever the alarm goes off and he responds to a call. Persch echoed Pannell's comments about "instinct" taking over during an emergency situation. "But you have to know what you're doing," Persch emphasized.
"We have a very talented workforce, which is exemplified by these three nominees," said Chief Thomas Haring, the Fire Department's borough commander.
"This is an excellent day for the Fire Department," Haring said. "And it's an excellent day for Staten Island."
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