Four Manitowoc firefighters were honored after helping someone from a house fire.
Assistant Fire Chief Ben Kraynek gave out a citation award for a group of four firefighters who helped at Monday’s Manitowoc council meeting.
Those four firefighters, Lieutenant Scott Larson, Mark Lyman, Ben Reisterer, and William Peck, were called to a home in the 1300 block of South 13th Street just after 4 pm on March 29th for smoke coming out of an apartment with two people possibly trapped inside.
“Lieutenant Larson was met by the family of that apartment which confirmed that that their teenage son was still inside the upper apartment,” Kraynek described. “Truck 1 grabbed their tools and a water can and went to the rear staircase of the residence to gain access to the upper apartment.”
Once firefighters got the door open to the upstairs apartment, they were met with zero visibility and some heat.
Lieutenant Larson decided to split his battalion of four into two to search around for the fire and the teen still inside.
The fire was located, and the flames were knocked down.
The victim was also found and was brought down a ladder out a window before a second fire truck came to finish off the fire.
Assistant Fire Chief Kraynek continues saying there’s an order to follow when fighting a fire.
“The decision to risk a lot for life safety and search the apartment without a hose line was paramount to the positive outcome of this incident,” he explained. “Furthermore, deciding to split up the company into to two teams to quickly locate the fire, knock it down, and extricate the occupant during adverse conditions is commendable.”
Each firefighter received a plaque, pin, and a round of applause for their work that day.
Kraynek finished by saying the ability to stay focused during an event like this is why they deserve the award.
